Since I've Come Home
by Forever-Tangled
Summary: Sequel to "I'm Coming Home". Collection of one-shots of Rapunzel and Eugene fitting into living among royalty; rated T just in case, but mostly just fluff! Gets better after the crummy first chapter, I promise xD Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled.
1. Chapter 1: First Day at Home

**A/N: I've gotten quite a few requests for more short stories after I posted "I'm Coming Home", so here ya go - a collection of one-shots about Rapunzel, Eugene, and the royal family. Enjoy, and thank you so much for reading and suggesting ideas for these one-shots! (:  
>_<strong>

**Rapunzel's POV  
><strong>The morning after my return home, I woke up in my overly soft bed. I had slept fitfully, having dreams off-and-on about Gothel and Eugene's death, but I still woke up excited to spend the day with my new family and Eugene. Pascal was curled up beside my head, so I gently picked him up off of the fluffy pillow and woke him up.  
>"Today is a <em>very <em>big day, Pascal! It's my first full day home!" I squeaked. I was a little nervous, but excitement trumps nervousness, right?  
>I threw on my new pink dress and then quickly combed through my hair. Goodness, I was able to brush my hair <em>so <em>quickly now! As soon as that was done, I made my bed and placed Pascal upon my shoulder before racing out of my door. Narrowly missing a maid, I paused to apologize.  
>"It's fine, Princess!" she was a plump, rosy-cheeked woman with brown hair and a simple green dress. I recognized her from the celebration on my birthday. She took my hand and gave it a quick pat, telling me that my parents were in the dining hall and simply couldn't wait to see me. Thanking her, I took off down the hallway at a quick pace. I realize that running in a castle must not be proper Princess behavior, but I simply couldn't help myself! All this room...I realized how much I loved stretching my legs and running, unhindered by my long hair or the small tower I'd been confined to. When I got to the sitting-room, I hung a right and went down another long hallway, finally reaching the dining hall.<br>As soon as I bounded into the room, my parents met me with broad smiles and open arms.  
>"Good morning, my dear girl!" my mother smiled, hurrying to envelope me into a warm hug. I hugged her back, and then greeted my father. I was a little shy around him, as was he, but he still gave me a quick, awkward hug good-morning.<br>"Oh, and nothing for me? The reason you're here right now?"  
>After my father let go of me, I turned on my heel to see Eugene in the doorway. He grinned when he caught my eye, and I giggled. "Early birds get the hugs!"<br>He shook his head in mock disgust. "Sure, be ungrateful. Go ahead, be my guest..."  
>My parents exchanged looks - I'm not sure if they were amused or disturbed - but I walked over to give him a quick hug. When I pulled away, he grinned, but I barely caught it before I turned back to my parents.<br>"Shall I make us breakfast? Where's the kitchen?"  
>My father chuckled. "The chef will serve breakfast, just like he did supper yesterday evening. You can just sit and relax, dear,"<br>"But I just got up! I don't need to relax," I argued. I wasn't used to being pampered. I'd cooked breakfast and lunch every morning for Gothel and I for the past five years, at least!  
>"You'll have plenty to do and explore later, so save your energy," my mother reassured me.<br>"I don't think you need to save any energy, Blondie. You're energetic as it is," Eugene teased, sitting down beside me at the table. My mother and father sat across from us.  
>"Hey, you can't call me Blondie anymore," I pointed out, gesturing to my short hair.<br>He shrugged, but my parents started talking before he could tease me any further.  
>"How did you sleep, my dear? Everything was okay?" my mother asked.<br>"Oh, it was fine," I smiled. "I slept well. Thank you!" I, of course, didn't want to bring up the fact that I'd had trouble sleeping: I didn't want to worry or upset them. It was due to nightmares that I hadn't slept well, anyway. Eugene threw a quick glance my way, but noticed what I was doing and gave me a slight nod.  
>"And how about you, Mr. Fitzherbert?" my father asked, turning his attention to the thief beside me. (Hopefully, ex-thief...)<br>His eyebrows shot up, and he clearly hadn't been expecting any questions or idle chatter directed his way. Though he had been slumped in his chair, he sat upright and looked at my father, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Oh! Uh, Eugene, please, sir. I-I...the living arrangements are wonderful, thank you, sir."  
>My father chuckled, clearly amused at Eugene's awkward response; but moments later, the food arrived.<p>

After breakfast, I begged Eugene to come explore the castle with me. He was a little apprehensive about poking around the castle, given his previous track record, but he obliged like the sweet person he is. Of course, this means that I had to deal with quite a bit of teasing, though!  
>The castle<em> is huge! <em>I've never seen anything so big and roomy in my entire life! ...Well...given the fact that I've been in a tower for eighteen years kind of affects this opinion, though. There are rooms for things I didn't even think existed: reading rooms, meeting and negotiation rooms, dining halls and sitting-rooms scattered throughout; bedrooms and sun rooms, kitchens, rooms simply for storage...it was amazing!  
>Possibly my favorite place in the castle, aside from the library, is the courtyard. It's full of gorgeous flowers and plants, and you can see the sea in the distance. It's simply breathtaking.<p>

Eugene, however, seems a bit thrown off by everything. I think he's having a hard time going from being a thief to living amongst royalty, but that makes two of us! Of course, I wasn't a thief, but I've never been around so many people in my life; nor have I been coddled or loved so much.


	2. Chapter 2: Nightmare

**A/N : Suggested by Lelo (:**

The woman gave Rapunzel a cruel smile as she turned to mercilessly kill the princess's newly found parents. The lost princess screamed and cried, begging her to stop. She fought against the chains holding her to the wall, but they only bit into her still-bruised wrists. That's when the woman turned the knife on Eugene...again.

Rapunzel flew upright in bed, gasping. That nightmare again...!

Tears were running down her cheeks, and her heart thundered. Slipping out of bed, she reached for her robe and stumbled into the dark hallway, letting her fingers trail down the doors along the hallway, counting them until she reached her parents' room.

A pale glow came from under their door, so she tapped shyly on the thick wood.

"Come in?" her mother called curiously.

"It's just me," the princess whispered, pushing against the heavy door to open it. Her parents smiled at her, looking up from the papers they held in their hands. "Oh! If you're busy..."

"No, of course not. We're never too busy for you, darling." the king gave her a gentle smile, setting his papers aside and reaching his arms out to his daughter.

She let out a relieved breath and quickly padded across the room, flinging herself into her father's strong embrace. He pulled her up onto the bed between him and the queen, who stroked the girl's short hair.

"Dearest girl, what's the matter?"

"It probably seems silly, but I had a nightmare. Gothel was in it," she nibbled on her lip and looked up at her parents.

"I see. But she's gone, correct? You need not worry about her any longer. You're safe her, my girl." she kissed her forehead, but she still wasn't reassured.

"I know, but...she hurt you guys and Eugene," she glanced down at her lap, embarrassed by her silliness. Her having a bad dream and looking to them for comfort was likely a mere annoyance to her parents...it always had been to Gothel.

"You mustn't worry about us, either; or Eugene, for that matter. The guards would be more than happy to have a go at Gothel if she somehow came back, and that goes for anyone who attempts intrusion. We had security increased after she kidnapped you," she told her gently.

"I know. I suppose bothering you was pretty silly-"

"Never! You're more than welcome to spend the night in here, if it would make you feel better," the king offered, his gentle smile never slipping from his face.

"Oh, I couldn't. You two were busy to begin with, and...and I'm a grown woman. Isn't that...only a comfort for small children?" She didn't want to seem immature or bother her parents' work.

The queen shook her head. "We never had the opportunity to comfort you after a nightmare when you were a child. Plus, those papers are just invitations from other countries for formal events. They can be tended to tomorrow, yes?"

The princess's father agreed, and Rapunzel smiled, reaching to kiss her parents' cheeks.

Within a minute, the papers were gone from the bed and stacked neatly on her mother's nightstand, the candles snuffed, and Rapunzel was curled under the thick blanket blanket with her parents, one on either side of her. Her father kept a hand on her shoulder, and her mother kept her close. It was a pleasant, secure feeling that she'd never felt before : a family who truly cared for her.


	3. Chapter 3: A Thief In A Royal's World

Bow. Sit straight. "Your majesty. Yes sir. No sir." Stuffy suits. Elbows off the table. Eat slowly.

Foreign language to a former thief.

Eugene had only been in the castle for one month, but he could hardly stand it.

Life was _too _easy!

Everything was practically handed to him on a silver platter, and now all of the townsfolk respected him; now that he had found the princess. The only times he enjoyed himself? When he was in the library or when he was spending time with Rapunzel.

He was bothered by the fact that suddenly, everyone forgave him of all his bad deeds, just because he found the princess. He didn't deserve it, and couldn't _somebody _still have a beef with him?! Did no one remember that little detail, you know, about being a thief?

Finally, he made a plan of action. Deciding to talk to Rapunzel about it first, he sought her out, eventually finding her in the courtyard, tending to the flowers.

"Hey, Blondie," he announced himself as he strode up behind her. He just had to smile as soon as he saw her. Her short hair shone softly in the sun, and her slender form bent so she could sniff a blue flower.

"Oh! Hello," she straightened, turning to glance up at him with a smile. "What's up?"

"I want to ask your dad something, but I thought I would talk to you about it first," he said, "see if you find it's a good idea."

"Mhm?"

She was gently pinching dead blossoms from a pot of impatients, but was still paying attention to him. He watched her long, slim fingers work gently and quickly, a small smile still gracing her face.

I-I don't know. I've been kind of-"

"Uncomfortable here?" she asked quickly. She paused her work to meet his eyes.

"How..?"

"You've been acting like you feel out of place,"

"Yeah. I just don't feel like I deserve all this royal treatment. I was thinking of talking to your father, see if he has a file of reports listing the places I'd robbed. I'd like to work out a deal with them to work for them for free until I kind of pay off what I stole from them. Does that make sense?"

Rapunzel gave him a soft smile. "Yes, it makes sense. I think it's a wonderful idea, Eugene! Do you want me to go find Father?"

"I can find him-you're busy with...what now?" he asked, watching as she knelt by a pot of drooping, black flowers.

"I'll need to tell Mother that these need replaced," she nodded decisively.

Holding a hand out, he helped her back to her feet. "I see. And you wouldn't...you know...feel lonely or something if I would go away and be at work all day?" he asked awkwardly.

She laughed. "Eugene, you're too sweet. I have my parents...when they're not busy. Plus, there are all the..the people who work here, and Pascal, of course," she gestured to her shoulder. "I'll be okay. Remember, I'm used to being alone."

He nodded. That's why he didn't want her to be or feel alone ever again, though. "Okay. So, it's a good idea?"

"Yes! Of course," she nodded excitedly.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you get back to your gardening, and I'll see if I can find your father." he told her, and she nodded.

"Good luck. I'll see you at supper!"

"Yep. See you at supper, Blondie." he chuckled when she gave him a _look, _meant to let him know that she didn't appreciate the inaccurate nickname, but then he left to find her father, nervous about the conversation.

When he finally found the King, he knocked on the slightly adjar door. His knees were shaking. He really didn't want to talk to the King.

"Come in, darling," the man called absentmindedly, and Eugene almost snorted. This was bound to get awkward.

"It's, uh, Eugene, sir." he poked his head into the office room.

The King's head shot up. "Oh. Well, take a seat, Mr. Fitzherbert."

"Uh, Eugene, sir," he cleared his throat. "Please."

He nodded, setting his pen aside and evaluating the thief who had stolen his daughter's heart. "Go on."

Eugene, stumbling over his words terribly, managed to explain his idea. The King nodded, stroking his short beard thoughtfully as he considered the young man's change. Instead of basking in the free ride, he wanted to work. Or was he simply trying to impress him?

"Eugene, I will put a request in with the guards. I'm sure they will be happy to give you every single report. I'll get in contact with the merchants and explain your motives. They'll believe me far before they'll believe you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." he nodded.

"I will notify you, probably in two weeks' time, of what your schedule will be."

"Thank you, sir," he nodded and awkwardly bent to bow, horrified when he realized that he'd forgotten to do so upon entering the room.

"Ahh, none of that. We aren't that strict, at least I am not. Oh, and before you go?"

"Yes, sir?" he held his breath, waiting for bad news. Had he done something?

"I appreciate the changes you are undergoing. It isn't easy to change yourself, especially considering your circumstances. It lets me know that you take my daughter seriously."

"I do, sir," he nodded, relieved. "I'd do anything for her."

He nodded. "When the time comes, I will be happy to give her into your care, rather than send her away to a different kingdom with a complete stranger. But if she changes her mind, if she no longer wishes to marry you, you must let her go. Let her do as she wishes. I trust that you know this, correct?" he gave the man a pensive stare, watching his reaction. He didn't want his old habits resurfacing, and he didn't want him to be using them, let alone his daughter. He didn't trust him completely; not yet.

Eugene gave the right response immediately: his face dropped at the mention of letting the girl go.

Eugene's stomach knotted at the mere thought, but of course he would let Rapunzel do as she wanted.

"Yes, sir. I understand that, and I will do anything to keep her happy, sir."

"Of course, in the event that that would happen, we would ensure you a place to live, and any assistance you may need..." Of course the King was testing him.

He shook his head. "I would be thankful, but I can fend for myself. I don't expect anything from you." He had figured out what was going on. "Sir, you don't have to be suspicious of me. I get it, but I'm trying to change. Mind, I fell in love with your daughter before I knew she was a princess. I expected to be executed upon my return to the kingdom. I appreciate what you do for me, and I am hoping to work because I know I don't deserve this, and I'm sick of being treated like royalty when I know I'm not anything close. And yes, if Rapunzel changes her mind, I'll be out of your hair. It'd kill me to let her go, but I would." he swallowed, surprised with his speech, but the king seemed satisfied with it.

"I appreciate it, Eugene."

Eugene nodded, bowing before turning to leave.

Just as he opened the door, Rapunzel burst into the room and ran smack into his chest.

"Ooh! Sorry!" she backed up, giggling. "How did it go?"

"It went very well. I am pleased with his stepping up to make amends," her father stood to greet her, and she beamed at Eugene a moment before racing over to hug her father.

"I told you, he's a good person! Now, can I go for a walk with him, please? I want to show him this really neat shrub I found..." she trailed off before she went on explaining the plant she was so excited about. Looking up at her father, she batted her big eyes, waiting for the response.

"Yes, you may. Don't be late for supper, dear."

"We won't!" she smiled, hugging him one more time before whirling on her heel, grabbing Eugene's arm and fairly dragged him from the room, chattering eagerly.


	4. Chapter 4: A Normal Girl To A Princess

Rapunzel sighed, picking at the overly-poufy skirt of the dress that her mother had requested she wear. This was the first time she had worn shoes - _ever_ - and her feet ached. Her crown felt heavier on her head by the minute.  
>The Queen flashed her a long-suffering glance, nodding when Rapunzel straightened. The princess added a small, awkward nod in the direction towards the tributaries' son, who was gazing at her. The young, seventeen year old had taken an odd fancy to her, which she was trying to avoid like the Plague. Quite frankly, Rapunzel couldn't wait for this meeting- or tea, or whatever you call it- to be over with. She found it entirely too painful and she felt quite out of place. Unfortunately, it seemed as though this would drag on forever.<p>

Suddenly, though, the door burst open, and a flamboyant Eugene strutted in, talking loudly in a teasing voice. "I've come to snatch away the fair princess for a stroll on this lovely day-"  
>Rapunzel and the Queen shot out of their chairs; one excited and the other horrified. "Eugene!" they both cried.<br>That's approximately when the young man realized that Éire's tributaries were sitting at the table, staring at him with a mix of horror and amusement.  
>"O-oh! Um, my apologies. I-I...I'll just go-" he stammered awkwardly, but his feet stayed frozen to the spot where he'd stopped.<p>

"Could I go, Mother?" Rapunzel asked quietly and hesitantly. She hadn't spoken in over two hours, she was feeling very unneeded and uncomfortable - between the clothes and the young tributary continually trying to catch her attention.  
>"Sit. Please," her mother said instead, without even a glance towards her daughter. "We will have a discussion later, Eugene."<br>Rapunzel's face fell, but she returned to her seat, trying to hide her disappointment from the other country's tributaries, which were of fairly high importance. They for sure would think her disappointment was unwarranted; possibly concluding that she was spoiled or not disciplined; a bad first impression to leave with, especially when you're meeting the princess whose disappearance had caused such an uproar for the past eighteen years.  
>Eugene noticed her discomfort and disappointment, and quite frankly, he'd seen her with those expressions way too often lately. No way was he leaving without at least pointing it out to her mother first.<br>Gulping, he touched the Queen's elbow and led her a few feet away, talking quietly. Finally, she sighed, nodding.  
>"Fine. But be back by supper - and I'll have a discussion with <em>both <em>of you later." she shook her head, clearly unamused.  
>Rapunzel gasped, jumping out of her seat one more time. She stumbled over to hug her mother, thanking her profusely. Next, she grabbed Eugene's arm and fairly dragged him from the room. They were out of the door by the time she remembered her manners. Whirling around, she stepped into the doorway and gave a quick curtsy.<br>"It was a pleasure to meet you all," she said quickly and breathlessly, and the three tributaries returned the gesture, rising from their seats to do so. She couldn't help but notice how longingly the boy looked at her.  
><em>That <em>just made her leave the room quicker!  
>As soon as they were out of earshot, she stopped. "Wait. These things have to come off!" she hopped from one leg to the other, yanking the heeled, leather prisons off of her feet.<br>Chuckling, Eugene followed her down a series of hallways. "You really don't like shoes, do you?"  
>"No! They're terrible! Oh, wait out here one second - I'll be out as soon as I'm out of this stinking dress!"<br>Eugene shook his head, grinning at her very un-princess-y antics as he stood outside of the closed door and waited for her to come back out.  
>Pretty soon, she re-emerged, the crown still atop her head and a simpler, pink dress on. Pascal sat on her shoulder.<br>"You ready?"  
>"Mhm! Get me out of here!" she laughed, snagging his hand and half-skipping beside him, pleased at her lighter skirt as well as her freed feet. She was completely unaware of the adoring gaze Eugene was giving her. He was pleased to see her so excited.<br>They didn't speak until they were just outside of the castle's limits, walking through a place in town that was mostly free of buildings and houses. Not many people went there, so it had sort of become her and Eugene's special little spot - plus, it was a shortcut to a small wooded area, which was perfect for daydreaming and chatting.

But Rapunzel hadn't been able to do either of those things in a long time. The past couple of months had been filled completely with training: she had to make up with the time lost; she had to learn how to become a princess and act like one _now_, according to her mother more so than her father. She had almost no time to explore the outdoors, and was devastated because of this: it was almost autumn now, and she wanted to explore the forests with all the beautiful leaves. She'd never experienced autumn before. And to top it all off, she had had even lesser time with Eugene, since his work schedule and her training schedule conflicted. They saw each other at dinner, but Eugene almost always retired to bed shortly after.

"Okay, spill."  
>"Hm?" she had been distracted, lost in her own thoughts, and was surprised when Eugene spoke up.<br>"You haven't been yourself lately. What's wrong?"  
>"Oh! Um..it's nothing," she looked down at her feet, clearly avoiding his question.<br>"But it's something," he prodded, "do I have to tickle it out of you?"  
>"No!" she gasped, giggling and moving a couple of feet away from him, just to be safe. "No. It's just...I don't feel like I belong here."<br>"Oh?"  
>"I mean...I'm so thankful, and I love my parents so much, but...the constant princess training! And the stiff tea - meeting - things, and the puffy dresses, and the heavy crown I have to wear <em>all the time;<em> and-and the _shoes!_ The tributaries' son took to nearly _flirting_ with me today, and it's just so - so...not me. I don't fit in at all! Maybe I'm not princess material. I never get any time outside anymore, and it's not like I'm doing anything useful inside, either - like cooking or cleaning." She sighed, lacing her fingers together and staring at them as she walked. "I'm a terrible daughter, I guess. I'm just going to let them down, and then they'll be disappointed and they'll think I'm a waste of time, and-"  
>"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait up a sec. They won't be disappointed in you or see you as a waste of their time. C'mon, they spent the past eighteen years searching for you! I think you just need to be eased off of the intensive training stuff a bit. Your father agreed with me that your mother has been kind of pushing you - we had a discussion the other night. I think you'd take a whole new perspective if you weren't constantly pushed and had some time to yourself. Maybe we - or you - could talk to your mother about teaching you some more useful things, and letting you have Sundays off, like I do?"<br>"She'd _never _have that. She thinks I need to become a princess like-like _that!_" she snapped her fingers and then sighed, reaching up to twist a lock of her short hair between her fingers.  
>"You can always ask. And as for your wardrobe, you're just gonna have to get used to that, Blondie."<br>"I know," she sighed again. This wasn't making her feel any better. This walk was just making her think about the things she didn't want to think about! Eugene quickly realized this, and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Hey. Don't fret, just enjoy this rare walk with your favorite thief."  
>She rolled her eyes. "<em>Ex-<em>thief. Right?"  
>"Mmhmm, only..." he tapped his lips with his other hand. Operation Make-Her-Smile was a go. "I need this." he quickly snatched the crown she still had on her head: something that always made her laugh.<br>"Hey!" she laughed, trying to grab it back. He held it just out of reach, giving her a teasing grin.  
>"You were just complaining about it not too long ago..."<br>"Okay, here!" she hopped up on tiptoe, snagged it, and reached up to nestle it on Eugene's head.  
>"Does it go with my vest?" he asked, pulling a concerned expression as he batted his eyes.<p>

Ducking her head to laugh, she shook her head. He knew just how to lighten the mood.  
>"And do you think I need to set that tributary boy in his place?"<br>She shook her head, snorting before she realized how un-ladylike that was of her. "Mother would _kill _you."  
>"But that's the only downside you see...? I don't have any competition as of yet?"<br>She gasped. "Eugene!"  
>"What?"<br>"You know what!"  
>"Do I?" he teased, shoving her gently with his shoulder.<br>"Yes!" she rolled her eyes, but shoved him back playfully.

They headed back to the castle soon after, Rapunzel in a much better mood. When they neared the castle, Eugene cleared his throat.  
>"So, are you going to talk to your parents?"<br>"I don't know. Maybe. I'm just...scared," she said quietly. "Gothel always hated it if I asked something of her, or questioned something she told me to do."  
>"But your parents aren't Gothel," he pointed out.<br>"I know," she nodded, taking a deep breath before pushing the heavy wooden doors open.

To say the Queen was irked would be an understatement. They were just slightly late for supper, which didn't ease her irritation.  
>"You'll need to learn how to sit through tea, young lady; especially when tributaries are present! And did you have any idea how late it was getting?"<br>It was only six thirty. "Yes, Mother. I apologize," she stared down at her lap, but shot a sidelong glance towards Eugene.  
>"And <em>you! <em>You _must _learn to knock. Lady Charlotte and Sir Montag were horrified at the lack of-of proper behavior!"  
>"My apologies, Your Highness." he nodded, ducking his head as well. The woman terrified him, quite frankly.<br>The Queen turned back to her daughter. "And the fidgeting, my word!"  
>"Laurel." the King cleared his throat, and Eugene looked up at him. The King looked as afraid of her as Eugene felt. "She-"<br>"There is absolutely no excuse!"  
>"Your Highness, she doesn't know how to act. She's only been here for...for a little while. She won't act perfect right off the bat," Eugene blurted. His face, neck, and ears were red.<br>"I agree with Eugene," the King added.  
>"I'm trying, Mother, but it's just so hard, and I don't feel like I fit in here, and I'm used to having more time to myself, and-and not wearing shoes. It's hard to adjust!" Rapunzel gulped, looking almost fearfully at her mother.<br>When her mother saw her daughter's expression, she softened. "Is this true?"  
>"Yes. Eugene knows," she mumbled.<br>She nodded. "And you were too afraid to come to us, I'm assuming?"  
>"I-I just-"<br>"It's okay," she made a smoothing motion with her hand. "We can make changes, I suppose. Now, you'll still have to train to become Queen, but I suppose you don't have to learn all of this straight away. Maybe a little free time would do you well," she nodded.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. That was a lot easier than she had imagined. "Really?"  
>She nodded once more, and Rapunzel flew out of her chair, padding around the table to grab her mother in a very un-princess-like hug.<br>"I'm sorry for misbehaving today, Mother."  
>"It's alright, dear. I understand now," she kissed her cheek and put her arms around her daughter in return, and the two of them remained in the hug for a few moments. Both men gazed at the mother-daughter moment.<br>Eugene and the King realized that they were doing the exact same thing, and exchanged knowing glances over the ladies' heads just before the hug was broken.  
>"Now," she pulled away. "Eat your supper, and we'll set up a schedule. I'm assuming you'll want time to be with Eugene on Sundays, correct?"<br>The princess nodded ecstatically. "And maybe we could do lessons on the balcony or in the garden!"  
>They continued to chat with an increasing level of eagerness, making plans to better suit the girl so she could learn to one day rule the kingdom of Corona.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5: Fall

Fall came soon after Rapunzel's return to the kingdom. By October, Eugene had finished up his work, clearing his name from the robberies he'd committed, but he soon after found work: helping an elderly gentleman in carpentry and woodworking. He thoroughly enjoyed his work, and found that he was a natural with wood, but he was always happy for Sundays to roll around so that he could spend the afternoon with Rapunzel.

Rapunzel was generally equally as excited: she had no lessons, and after the royal family attended church, she was free to do as she pleased. She typically made the most out of Sundays, especially when the weather was fair.

By the middle of October, leaves had started falling from the trees. Eugene wanted to show her the nearby forest (their favorite walking location - the woods that eventually led to the bridge and the Snuggly Duckling restaurant) before all the leaves fell from the trees, so on the third Sunday of October, he brought the topic up as soon as they had finished lunch.

"So, Blondie," Eugene started.  
>The girl's parents exchanged amused expressions, and Rapunzel rolled her eyes at Eugene. "I should just stop answering to 'Blondie'."<br>"Then I'd just repeat it until you got annoyed enough to answer me," he winked, and she gave him an exasperated sigh.  
>"What were you going to say?"<br>"I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk in the woods. You've never seen fall leaves, have you? I mean, not just from your window?"  
>Her face immediately brightened, and she gasped excitedly. "Oh, <em>yes! <em>When?"  
>"Anytim-"<br>He didn't get to finish the sentence, because Rapunzel had immediately burst out of her seat and grabbed his arm. Fairly dragging him out of his seat, she bounced on her toes excitedly. Not only were they going to see something she'd always longed to see up-close, they were also going to go for a walk on her favorite trail!  
>"Take a cloak, dear - it's bound to be chilly out. And you too, Eugene," the Queen called, laughing, as Rapunzel hauled Eugene out of the dining hall and down the hallway.<p>

The young girl didn't even hear her mother, but Eugene did, and managed to snag his cape, as well as hers, from the armoire at the personal entryway to the castle before Rapunzel raced out of the castle.  
>"Hey, slow down," he laughed. Glancing down, he was relieved to see that she had somehow ended up with shoes on - that meant her common sense had returned for at least two seconds.<br>"Who wants to slow down when there are new things to experience?!" she called, turning to look at him with an excited grin.  
>He shook his head, jogging to catch up and grab her arm, stopping her. "Those of us that know we should pay attention to where we're running, as opposed to something behind you," he teased, gesturing to the stone half-wall she'd nearly rammed into.<br>"Thanks," she giggled, blushing. "I'm just really excited, I guess."  
>"As you should be. After all, how cruel is it that you had to stay locked in a tower, not even getting the chance to run through or jump in a pile of leaves? Assuming Gothel didn't haul bunches of leaves inside for you to play in," he added.<br>"She definitely did _not _bring leaves in for me to play in," she laughed. "And now I'm too old for it, obviously."  
>"Who says?" he asked.<br>She started to ponder that, but just shrugged. Gothel would've frowned upon running about acting like a child, but then again, that was Gothel. Mother might even disapprove of her jumping in leaves, since she would more likely than not dirty her dress up. But this was Eugene, who was older than she and still acted like a kid sometimes.

They walked at a quick clip, and made it to their favorite spot in no time at all. Rapunzel gasped as soon as they neared the forest.  
>"They're so...so gorgeous!" She had seen stray leaves swept up and taken away by the wind before, but they were simply magnificent when they were still all bunched together on the tree's limbs. "Oh, look at the pretty colors! There must be at least three shades of crimson, and rust, and...and that golden-yellow...!"<br>He chuckled. "I can guarantee I already know what you're going to paint after we get home, right?"  
>Her eyes brightened even more so. "Definitely! Ooh, thank you-thank you-thank you!"<br>"What?"  
>"For bringing me out here, silly!" she exclaimed. Before he could respond, she had taken off into the forest, yelling, "I'll race you to the big oak!"<br>Eugene shook his head as he folded the cloaks under one arm and started jogging after her. He stayed a couple yards behind her, watching as she slowed her pace to veer off-track and crash through mounds of leaves that were ankle-deep.

When they both reached the big oak tree - the place that they generally stopped at to eat or rest while on their longer walks - Rapunzel stopped, leaning up against the tree and laughing breathlessly. Her face held pure glee, and her eyes shone as she took in the sights one more time before focusing her attention on Eugene, who had caught up to her.  
>He grinned at her. "Enjoying yourself?"<br>"Just a little bit," she teased.  
>"Just a little bit? Are you seriously <em>that <em>hard to please? Geez." the young man played along, but stepped closer so he could pluck a single, small leaf from her short hair. He twirled it for a moment by its stem between his thumb and forefinger, but then let it fall to the ground before handing the dark purple cloak to the princess. "Your nose and cheeks are getting red."  
>"Of course my cheeks are, Eugene, I was just running!" she exclaimed. She didn't want to be hindered by the cloak: she enjoyed being able to stand up, sit down, and kneel without having to keep track of her cloak so she wouldn't step on it. She'd nearly choked herself at least twice with the wretched thing, and she'd only had it for a month!<br>He jokingly gave her a long-suffering sigh before draping it around her shoulders and fastening it around her neck himself.  
>"Your mother would have a cow if you ended up sick."<br>That much was true. She huffed before agreeing.  
>The next thing Eugene knew, he was getting bombarded by handful after handful of leaves. "Hey!" he yelled, bending to grab some leaves of his own to throw in retaliation.<p>

All too soon, the sun was just beginning to set. They no longer had ammunition on-hand, as most of the leaves in the small area surrounding the big oak had been scattered - by their leaf-fight, of course. Rapunzel noticed that the forest had begun to lose light, and she finally walked up to Eugene, who held his hands behind his back.  
>"Are we done with our leaf-war?" he asked teasingly.<br>"It's going to get dark soon," she pointed out. "Otherwise, I could probably stay out here forever!"  
>"Me too," he nodded. "It's a very pretty place in the fall."<br>Then, he revealed what he held in his hands: just enough leaves to set atop Rapunzel's already disheveled hair. She shoved his chest. "Hey! No fair!"  
>"All's fair in love and war," he teased, ducking to give her cheek a quick peck. She shrank away, and he laughed when her nose wrinkled in mock-disgust. Of course, the grin on her face betrayed her - as usual.<p>

They took their time walking back through the trail, knowing full well that they would likely be late for supper. Rapunzel finally took a deep breath and caught the scent of the leaves.  
>"What makes them smell so...so nice?" she asked.<br>He paused. He really didn't know. "To be honest, I don't know. It's funny how something dead can smell so nice, isn't it?"  
>She gasped. "Well, <em>that <em>was so poetic," she said sarcastically.  
>"Well, how would <em>you <em>explain it? I'm being literal," he defended himself.  
>She struggled to think of a nicer way to say it, but ended up giving in.<br>Eugene laughed when she admitted she couldn't think of a nicer way to put it, and then slung an arm around her shoulder. "We'd best hurry back as soon as we get to the entrance of the pathway. It's getting dark pretty quickly, and your parents are probably already going to have my hide for keeping you out." 


	6. Chapter 6: Snowfall

Rapunzel gasped, rushing to the window as something caught her attention.  
>Snow!<p>

She'd seen snow. She knew how cold it had gotten in the tower when it snowed. But she'd never felt snow! It was a splendid Thursday afternoon, just after her daily lesson, and so she trotted to the library in search of Eugene. She knew he would be in the castle - his work had been cut back quite a bit because of the cold weather and a lack of wood. She found him, as suspected, in the library, curled up on a chair with a book.  
>"It's snowing!" she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly through the doorway.<br>"Mmh...great." he set his book down. He'd spent way too many winters cold, hungry, and homeless to get excited about it anymore. It was cold, it was wet, and he wasn't about to go out in it.  
>"It <em>is<em> great, isn't it?!" she exclaimed, not catching the sarcasm in his voice. "Come outside with me, please?"  
>"Why do you want to go out there? It's freezing. You'd be crazy to go out there!" he said, trying to discourage her. He <em>would<em> like to spend some time with her, just...not outside.  
>Her smile faltered. "It's just that I've never been outside in the snow, and it looks so pretty,"<br>Immediately, he felt bad for trying to discourage her. Of course, she didn't know what snow was like.  
>He stood up, laying the book carefully down on a nearby side-table. "Alright, don't give me your puppy-dog-eyes. Come on,"<br>She immediately brightened, grabbing his hand and nearly dragging him from the library.  
>"For you being trained to be a princess, you sure don't act like one yet," he teased grumpily, but he followed her. She careened around the corner to the private entrance to the castle. "Hey, wait up. You'll need a cloak and hat, and...oh, come here!"<p>

The girl paused, hand on the door, to look back at him. He snagged her cloak from the armoire at the door and set it on her shoulders, letting her fasten the clasp at her white throat.  
>"Thanks," she grinned.<br>"Yup," he teasingly dropped one of his larger knit hats over her hair. The edge slipped down to cover her eyes, and she giggled, peeking up at him before pulling it off and jamming it back onto his own head. He tossed her cloak hood over her head next, but then went to retrieve his own cloak from the armoire. "Okay, c'mon." he reached past her to open the door.

She gave a squeak of excitement, racing out of the castle...in her bare feet.  
>"Hey! Shoes! You'll get frostbite!" he yelled. Good night, this was like trying to take an overeager three-year-old outside!<br>She made various sounds of disgust, but went back inside to tug on the warm stockings and boots they kept in a drawer inside the armoire.  
>She was back outside in a heartbeat.<p>

Tilting her head up, she allowed those amazing snowflakes to kiss her cheeks and nose. She smiled, scrunching her nose up at the cold. Then she gazed around at the landscape surrounding them. "It's so beautiful," she whispered, "just like I'd dreamed it would be."  
>"As cold as you dreamed it would be, too?" Eugene asked, and she rolled her eyes, giving him a playful shove before turning her attention back to watching the fluffy flakes fall from the sky. Eugene grinned as he watched her. The cold didn't bother him so much; the sight of her enjoying this new experience warmed his heart. She was always so positive, so happy...she even got excited over <em>snow<em>.  
>His hand slid into the pocket of his black pants, fingering the simple ring he'd recently bought from the jeweler -with his own wages.<br>_Not quite yet_, he tried to tell himself.  
>"Isn't it gorgeous, Eugene?" the girl whirled around suddenly, almost as if she could tell he was thinking about her.<br>"Y-yes, I suppose it is," he nodded, trying to gather his thoughts. How could he be so scatterbrained when he was around her? "But the person I'm looking at right now is even more gorgeous than the snow, just for the record."  
>She blushed at least three shades of red. She still wasn't used to being complimented, especially on her appearance.<p>

"O-oh. Well, uh..." she smiled shyly, looking down at her boots to watch the snow clump on them. It was much better than looking at the young man's face and feeling as though her heart might leap out of her chest.  
>He quickly changed the topic.<br>"The snow will be more fun when you can have snowball fights, build snowmen..you know...fun stuff."  
>"Huh?" she cocked her head curiously, risking a glance up at him. Snowball fights? And how did one go about building a snow man? She'd read about it before, but thought them mere fiction.<br>He shook his head. "Oh, I'll teach you how when we have enough snow," he promised.  
>"I can't wait!" she grinned, walking over and pulling him into a quick, sudden hug.<br>"What? Getting cold?" he asked, slipping his arms around her in return.  
>"No! Thanks for coming outside with me!" she flashed another completely endearing grin up at him, and he just about melted.<br>"Yes, your highness-" he tried to joke to cover up the fact that she was driving him crazy, and she laughed, pulling out of the hug and punching his arm gently.  
>"Quit!" she giggled, shaking her head before something else caught her attention: how slippery the powdery snow was on the cobblestones.<p>

Eugene's hand slipped back into his pocket to grasp the cold metal of the ring, but this time he pulled it out. It took a lot of chutzpah for him to just pull the ring from his pocket and say her name, catching her attention.  
>"What?" she asked, swinging around on one heel to look at him curiously when he called her name.<br>"I-I, uh..." Oh well. Any audacity, and guts he'd had a few seconds ago...they were gone. "Uh, that is...oh, to heck with the stupid speech! Will you marry me?"  
>She gasped, and almost slipped on a damp spot on the cobblestone. "Wh-what? Eugene, I'm not even nineteen yet. I haven't been out of my tower six months! I want to explore the outside world more."<p>

Girls normally got married by sixteen, but Eugene understood her refusal. Still, it seemed hard to swallow. "Okay. Sorry, I thought it might be too soon, but..uh, I-I thought I'd at least ask."  
>"It's okay," she smiled gently at him to show that he hadn't scared or upset her. "I <em>do <em>want to marry you, Eugene - someday. Just...I just don't feel ready yet. If you get tired of waiting for me, you can always just find-"  
>He shook his head. "Nope. I'll wait for you until the day I die, but I hope it doesn't take that long," he cleared his throat and grinned at her. He tried to find something to say to change the subject, and saw the snowflakes changing size. "Now, that aside, do you see how big the snowflakes are getting? They're clumping together and-"<br>She laughed, blushing as she bounced on tiptoe to give him a quick, shy kiss. "I love you!"  
>Now, how could he not smile at that? "Love you too. But, seriously - look how big the flakes are getting. I'm serious!"<p>

The brunette turned away from him once more, gasping as she watched some flakes collide together on the way to the ground, getting bigger and bigger the more flakes as it bumped into. She caught the conglomerate of white fluff in her bare hand and showed it to Eugene, watching as it melted on her cold hand. She shook the wet remains from her hand and rubbed them together, glancing a bit guiltily towards the tall man beside her as she realized how right he'd been about the chilliness of the snow.


	7. Chapter 7: A Talk With the King

**A/N: Thanks so much for all your support, ideas, reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys are all amazing, seriously. (:**

**_  
>This one-shot was suggested by silviatangled<strong>

He sucked in a deep breath, his hand shaking on the doorknob. It was two weeks before Christmas. Rapunzel was on a walk with Emilie, and he was, of course, off work, so he had some free time.  
>And how was he spending it, you may ask?<br>Talking to Rapunzel's parents.  
>The King had already granted him entrance...why was he prolonging this? He needed to just spit it out, get it over with, and then he could go read or something. Anything that wouldn't make his stomach churn.<br>"Your highness-es..." he broke off with horror as he realized the Queen was there as well. He bowed hastily before entering the room the rest of the way, shutting the door behind him. "I'd like to talk to you about Rapunzel."  
>He gulped. How could he be sweating? Flynn Rider would've never gotten sweaty over talking to someone. But then again, Flynn Rider likely wouldn't have asked a lady's parents for the girl's hand in marriage. Then <em>again<em>, Flynn Rider likely wouldn't have married said lady. He was a swashbuckling rogue, not a husband.

"Is she alright?" the Queen asked, instantly snapping him out of his thoughts. A hint of concern was in her voice.  
>"Yes-she's okay. I just, uh...I-I wanted to ask for your blessing. I-" he broke off. No, he wouldn't tell them about the refused proposal. They didn't need to know he'd gone behind their backs. "I..want to propose...sometime."<br>The Queen smiled as she gathered a sheaf of papers and headed for the door.  
>"Don't rip him limb from limb, dearest," she called over her shoulder.<br>Eugene choked. The blood drained from his face, and his entrails ran cold.  
>The King chuckled. While he loved Eugene like he would a son, he did enjoy putting a little fear into him - kept him honest. "Take a seat." When the young man managed to find the chair via bumping his heels against a leg of it and fumbling to find the seat (never taking an eye off of the King), he continued. "It's only been six months since she came home. I'd ask you to give her some more time."<br>"I know, sir." he cleared his throat. He couldn't look him in the eye. Oh, FINE. No secrets or lies. He had to remind himself that he had given up that life months ago. "I, uh...I asked her the other day. She, ah, she refused, of course."

The King's face darkened. Eugene's insides quaked like Jell-o, and he felt that the sandwich he'd had for lunch was going to come back for revenge. "Well, while I'm definitely not happy that you went behind my-our-backs, I'll give you a pardon from hanging because she turned you down."  
>"I-I, ah,-I ap-pologize, sir. It won't happen a-again," he stuttered, his voice cracking.<br>"I think you already know what I'm going to say, but I'm going to continue anyway. Don't go behind our backs with her. Ever. You do realize it's a really poor choice to not ask a lady's parents before proposing, correct? Let alone if her parents are the King and Queen."  
>Eugene had never proposed before, but of course he knew. "Yes, sir."<br>"And you will _not _rush or pressure her, understood?"  
>"Yes, sir. I would never force her into anything."<br>"Good. Also, if she so chooses, she can still marry a prince instead. Once more, you must accept her decision."  
>"Yes, sir," his stomach knotted painfully at the thought of losing her, but he nodded.<br>"Aside from that, yes. You have our blessing to ask for her hand in marriage. So long as you obey us, honor her, and honor the choices that she makes, of course. We knew you'd be asking sometime soon."  
>Eugene's eyes widened. At the rate that <em>that<em> conversation had been going, he'd expected a 'you can pack your things and leave, you cretin' instead. "I-I, uh...thank you, sir!"  
>"James..." he reminded him patiently, letting Eugene know that he didn't need to be so nervous and stiff around him. "Now, I assume you'll need a ring-"<br>"I...already bought one. _Bought_," he repeated when the older man eyed him warily. Suddenly self-conscious about his choice in rings, he nervously pulled it from his pocket and held it up for him to examine. "I know it isn't huge and extravagant, but..."  
>The King studied the tiny, clear stone before handing it back to Eugene. "But it's Rapunzel," he finished.<br>Eugene nodded, chuckling. "I figured if I'd try to give her some huge thing, she'd complain about it being too flashy."  
>The King laughed, agreeing. "The girl's something."<br>"That she is," Eugene shook his head, pocketing the ring once more. "But I wouldn't want her to be any other way."  
>The King nodded in agreement once more. "Now, you'd better go see what she, Emilie, and that chameleon are up to. I don't like the idea that those three are running amok. Last time that happened, they both came back sopping wet and cold, having rescued Pascal from the river. I still haven't figured out how that happened," he reminded him.<br>Eugene's eyes widened. Those girls were dangerous enough together, but adding Pascal into the mix? He took off out the door.


	8. Chapter 8: Christmas

"E-e-u_-gene_," the impatient voice came from the door.  
>The man causing the princess's irritation rolled over in bed, pressing his pillow over his head in an attempt to go back to sleep. The impatient girl had called his name three times already. He heard his door open, and about a milisecond later, a heavy weight landed full-force across his stomach. He kept a grunt of surprise to himself. The weight moved around until it was more evenly distributed across his gut, and then two slim hands gripped his shoulders, shaking them. At this point, he was ignoring her simply to tease her. She then yanked the pillow off of his face and proceeded to hit him with it.<br>"Hey-_hey! _I'm up, I'm up!" he exclaimed, trying to block the killer pillow. It landed squarely across his nose, and then he managed to take it out of her grip and toss it across the room. "Geez, is the castle on fire or something?!"  
>"Eugene!" she huffed. "It's Christmas morning! C'mon!"<br>"You're supposed to jump on your parents like this on Christmas morning, not your beau!" he told her, gesturing to how she was still straddling him.  
>A bundle of awkwardness, limbs, and energy, she tumbled off and somehow managed to land on her feet beside the bed. "I did that already - woke them,"<br>He laughed. "Of course you did. Now, scram so I can get dressed."  
>She stared at him with mistrust. "If you aren't out in five minutes-"<br>"I've got to get dressed, Blondie! Yeesh," he stood out of bed himself and stretched. When he was done, he directed her to the door and guided her out. "After all we've been through together, and you don't trust me? Ouch." he added teasingly, shutting the door before she could react. Her giggles penetrated the thick door as he dressed hurriedly.

About three minutes later, they were in the dining hall. Her parents were waiting, and they greeted them before sitting down across from them.  
>Rapunzel was a bundle of energy and excitement, smiling ear-to-ear. She'd never celebrated any holidays when she had been with Gothel, and she embraced each and every one of them with equal enthusiasm.<br>Eugene hadn't been amused when she had woken him at six in the morning on Thanksgiving day.

"Well, someone's not excited," the Queen commented teasingly, smiling at her daughter.  
>"I've never celebrated Christmas before!" she exclaimed in return.<br>Eugene overlapped with a teasing comment. "Yeah, I heard you guys got woken up in the abrupt, rude manner that I-"  
>She twisted in her seat to give him a <em>look<em>. "Well, if you would've gotten up when I called you the first or second time..."  
>"You nearly murdered me! You came down on me like a-a...a sack of hammers or something!"<br>"I did not! I was very graceful!"  
>"Says the now-tender spot across my stomach," Eugene joked.<br>She punched his arm playfully, and he returned with a shove. They immediately straightened when they heard the maid come bustling in. She filled their plates with eggs and pancakes; a tub of freshly made butter and a small pitcher of maple syrup in the center of the four of them. Their cups were filled with steaming hot tea, and then the maid left. As soon as the door closed, their play-bickering resumed.  
>"You coulda warned me, y'know. I didn't get the official letter stating that I would be woken abruptly at six in the morning by a crazed brunette bouncing up and down on me." he shoveled in a piece of egg white and watched her reaction.<br>She tsked her tongue and elbowed him. She'd never admit it, but she loved his teasing. "Oh, hush! Next time I'll make sure to let you know in advance. It's not like it's any earlier than we usually get up!"  
>"Oh, so you're telling me to-hey!" he yelped. She had slipped her fork over to his plate, stabbing a small slice of pancake and stealing it from his plate. She giggled, but then he stuck his finger in a small pool of syrup that was on his plate, dabbing it on her nose.<br>Her parents shared an amused, indulgent smile before they turned to resume watching the scene in front of them. The girl rubbed at her nose with her napkin, and once she had gotten the sticky residue off-for the most part-, she gave him a playful shove.

The teasing lasted, for the most part, throughout breakfast. They somehow managed to settle down shortly before the foursome went into the parlor, surrounding the Christmas tree that was smack in the center of it.  
>As Rapunzel sat with her parents and Eugene on the floor in front of the great tree, she gazed up at it. She'd never known that you could keep a tree inside - although, according to the pine needles scattered across the purple tree skirt, it was dying - and it intrigued her. She studied the ornaments she'd helped her mother adorn the tree with just a few days ago. They ranged from pine cones and hard, sweet smelling candy canes to handmade clay ornaments that Rapunzel had made herself.<br>"Hey. Earth to Blondie,"  
>Eugene waved his hand back and forth in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts.<br>"O-oh!" she gasped, gulping and looking at him. "Sorry. I was-"  
>"Taking it all in?" he finished, a knowing smile lifting the corners of his mouth.<br>She grinned sheepishly. "Yes."  
>"You can take it in all you want, dearest. It <em>is <em>your first Christmas, after all!" her mother smiled, and Rapunzel finally noticed the small parcel she held out to her daughter.  
>She took it awkwardly before slowly unwrapping the brown paper from the small box.<p>

Inside was a necklace. She pulled it out of the box and looked at it, her wide green eyes shining and taking in every detail.  
>"I saw it and just had to get it for you. I thought you might like the flowers," her mother scooted over to point out the tiny flowers.<br>Silver chain connected to a small sterling silver piece at the center; leaves intertwined with flowers, and small gems of amethyst were placed in the centers of the flowers.  
>"Oh, I love it," she smiled. "Thank you!"<br>Her mother nodded and accepted the hug her daughter pulled her into, wrapping her arms around her daughter for a moment before pulling away. "Now, let's see how it looks on you!"  
>Rapunzel had never worn a necklace. The thought occurred to her that it might be heavy around her neck. But she allowed her mother to take it and twisted her back towards her, letting her fasten it around her neck. It was surprisingly light on her neck, the small centerpiece dangling just past her collarbone. The metal constantly bumped against her, reminding her that it was there and quite unusual; because of it, she constantly fingered it.<p>

Her father was quite insistent that she open his thick, heavy package next. It was, of course, a very thick book of fairytales. It was at least a thousand pages long, and as you can imagine, Rapunzel was beyond ecstatic. She hurried to hug him excitedly; his only request was that she allow him to read a story aloud to her - something he had never done with her as a child. As soon as she left go of him, she stood up and seemed to remember something, a smile spreading across her face.  
>"I'll be right back - I have to get you guys' gifts!"<br>With that, she tore off. Eugene looked towards her parents, shrugging and chuckling at her behavior.

Moments later, she returned, bringing two huge and awkward canvases out. She struggled with the one thick frame, so Eugene strode over to help her carry it over to the tree.  
>"Thank you," she puffed gratefully before turning towards her parents. "I only made one for both of you," she added, turning the big clumsy canvas around. She'd worked extraordinarily hard to make a realistic painting; of course, it still held quite a few of her signature-childish painting techniques, but it was unique. It was a family portrait - including the King, Queen, herself, and Eugene. It had never even occurred to her to exclude the ex-thief from the painting.<p>

Her mother gasped, and the both of them stood up to examine the painting.  
>"It's beautiful, dear! Thank you. We'll have it hung - right in here, won't we, James?" the Queen immediately gestured towards a blank space on a wall, moving towards it to try to decide if it was large enough.<p>

Rapunzel smiled, but then turned to Eugene, holding up the smaller canvas. "I wasn't sure what to make or get you," she added shyly.  
>He took it - a painting just large enough for him to hang in his room - and saw it was a painting of their boat ride on her eighteenth birthday. It was done in the same simple, half-realistic style that her parents' piece had been created with. He tried to think of something snarky to say to cover up the fact that he was touched by the painting. It was the first time since he was five that he had celebrated Christmas with a family, and the day before the girl's eighteenth birthday celebration had been the first time in almost ten years that he'd made mention of his true name.<br>"You, ah...look at that. You even got my nose right," he teased hurriedly. He knew if he'd linger too long on this, he'd be a blubbering mess and remembering his early childhood. He set it gently aside...wrong move.  
>"If you don't like it, you can just say so," she pointed out. "I knew it'd be kind of a fifty-fifty thing."<br>He met her eyes and saw the genuine worry in them: she thought he didn't like it. He shook his head. "No. I love it, actually, and it'll be going up in my room as soon as I can find a hammer and nail. It's just been a long time since I've celebrated Christmas with a family, and-you know. I didn't want to start crying like a baby."  
>She grinned, quickly slipping her arms around him. "You try to act all tough, but you're just a big soft marshmallow. You know that?"<br>He laughed. "Am I as sweet as one, too?" The girl pretended to think for a minute, and he acted insulted. "Well, gee-maybe I should just get rid of the gift I made for you..."  
>She laughed. "Oh, you know I think you're sweet. And you didn't have to get me anything,"<br>"I didn't," he said - just to see the mild confusion across her face. He pulled away and reached under the tree, pulling a box out from under it.  
>"I thought you might need another box to hold your painting supplies in. It isn't much, but-"<br>She shook her head, letting her fingers stroke across the intricate carving across the wooden box. Tiny lanterns trailed across the box, and the edge of the bottom was carved with a small stream of hair. She smiled. "Isn't much? This is beautiful! Thank you so much." She set it aside and threw her arms around him again, giving him a quick hug.  
>He chuckled. "Plus, there are a few brushes in here - yours were looking a little tattered. I only ask that you let me watch you use those new brushes at least once."<p>

She nodded eagerly, but then her father butted in, nudging a small package Eugene's way.  
>"Sir, I couldn't - I'm not..." he trailed off, surprised. How could he be getting a Christmas gift, of all things, from the same man who, months before, had ordered an execution for him?<br>He chuckled. "Would you just call me James? Calling someone sir when receiving a gift seems odd."  
>Eugene awkwardly accepted the gift and took the paper from it; it was a book.<br>"I saw it when I was at the bookshop looking for Rapunzel's book, and it was by the same author as _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_. Thought you could at least try it."  
>"Thank you," he said, coming out of his shock and into to his senses. <p>

The day was spent enjoying each others' company, a rare treat in the world of ruling a kingdom.  
>When it came time to go to bed, Rapunzel was still so wound from the day that she couldn't go to sleep. Plus, she wanted to get started on the book her father had given her. So she sat down in the library with Pascal and a candle, curling up on the big, overstuffed chair in one of the corners. She was completely absorbed in the book, so she hardly heard Eugene come in when he did.<br>"You've got the same idea that I do, I guess," he chuckled, holding up his new book.  
>Her eyes shot up to look at him, a small gasp escaping her lips. "Oh! Sorry, I was so into this book..."<br>He chuckled. "That's fine. Good book, I take it?"  
>She nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes! Daring swordfights, a prince in disguise..the first fairytale is amazing."<br>He grinned. "It sounds good. Mind if I sit?"  
>"Not at all!" she exclaimed, unfurling her legs and letting him have some room on the chair. He sat and held one arm out, letting her nestle up against his side.<br>He caught the absentminded smile that curled the corners of her lips, so he gave her shoulder a squeeze, opening his own book with one hand. Pascal moved from the princess's lap onto his own, and they both read until their eyes crossed and Rapunzel fell asleep.  
>From there, Eugene carried the princess-and her chameleon-to her bedroom, tucking them both under the thick blankets before heading back to the library, retrieving the candle before going to his own room.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

One Sunday afternoon in the middle of January, Eugene waited impatiently for the young girl to finish tea with Denmark's King and Queen. The second she was free, he pulled her aside.  
>"I see plenty of snow on the ground and a girl who needs to learn the art of snowmen," he said as soon as she left the meeting parlor.<br>Her green eyes lit up with excitement. "Really?"  
>"Yep. C'mon, we're burning daylight," he told her teasingly. She grabbed his hand, dragging him to the private entrance of the castle. They quickly dressed for the snow and bolted outside.<p>

Rapunzel paused a moment, looking around the courtyard. It was blanketed under nearly a foot of fresh, heavy snow that crunched under her leather boots. Eugene motioned her over to where he was kneeling in the snow, and she plopped down beside him, the cold snow soaking through her thick green skirt. She watched him pack a small mound of snow into a ball, and then helped him roll it into a huge, heavy ball.

He stepped back, instructing her on how to create the middle and top sections herself. He found some dead twigs and two small stones, showing her how to stick them into the snow to create eyes and arms. When that one was done, she eagerly made another.  
>After she was done with that, she stepped back to admire her work.<p>

"It's official, you're a professional snowman builder now," Eugene joked. She studied the two snowmen closely, appreciating her work, and Eugene seized the opportunity.  
>Within a moment, Rapunzel felt a cold, hard force slam into her back.<br>"What was that?!" she asked, whirling around and squeaking in confusion. "Did you see-"  
>He laughed. "You want to learn what a snowball fight is?"<br>She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Of course, but-"  
>"Then make a snowball," he paused, bending to make one of his own, "...and hit me if you can." He pulled his arm back, aiming the freshly-made snowball at her.<br>She yelped, jumping to the side as he let the cold ball of snow fly. "Hey!"  
>He laughed, holding his arms out and clearly making himself a target. "Well, hit me! Don't hold back."<br>"Why would I?" she didn't want to hurt him, and those cold balls of snow _hurt _if you threw them hard enough!  
>"It's the whole purpose of the game, Blondie."<br>She nibbled her lip, eying him suspiciously as she bent, scooping some snow into her mitten-ed hands and then throwing a loose ball his way. "I don't want to hurt you, though."  
>He shook his head, grinning. "You won't. I was an ex-thief, unless you manage to break a bone, you aren't hurting me."<br>Her eyes widened, but then she shook her head. It was impossible to break someone's bones with snow. "You couldn't break someone's bones with snow!"  
>"Says you. This one time..." he started, and her eyes widened once more, horrified. "No, you can't break someone's bones with a snowball," he laughed.<br>She rolled her eyes, irritated that she'd fallen for it, before scooping another and throwing it harder. It hit his shoulder, and he actually _grinned_! This game was weird.  
>"Good. Now...it's game on."<br>She watched him, zoned out as she still tried to decide exactly how insane this game was. When he threw another ball, he hit her squarely in the gut.  
>With a loud squeal, she gaped at him. "Fair warning, Eugene!"<br>He held up his hands. "I said game on. All's fair in love and war."  
>She gave him a dirty look, making and throwing a harder-packed snowball. He grunted in surprise when it hit him, but he returned fire.<p>

The fight continued, gaining enthusiasm as Rapunzel gained confidence in the odd game. Soon, they were both red-cheeked and out of breath. Eugene wailed one last snowball, and Rapunzel dodged, tripping over her own numb feet and falling into a snow drift.  
>Cold bombarded her senses, dumped down the back of her dress, turning her ears cold and biting at her nose.<p>

Eugene's hand appeared in front of said cold nose. She took it, and he helped her up.  
>"You okay?" he asked, holding back a laugh.<br>"Yes," she nodded, laughing as she dusted the snow off of her skirt. "Thank you."  
>He chuckled. "Yup." She reached over, impulsively wrapping her arms around him. "Cold?" he asked, slipping his arms around her - you know, just in case she was cold.<br>"Mm...kind of. But thank you."  
>"You already said that, Blondie," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.<br>"For showing me how to do all this stuff!" she giggled, pulling away. "Can we build one more snowman before going back in?"  
>"You mean you still have feeling in your toes? Because I don't."<br>"No, but I still want to!" she laughed.  
>He grinned. "Alright, I suppose it won't kill me. C'mon." he said, pulling her over to a spot of fresh, untrodden snow.<p>

As they were building the third snowman of the day, the captain of the guards, envelope in hand, ran into the courtyard.  
>"Are your parents...ah...available, Princess?"<br>She glanced up, curious. "Yes, they're probably in the parlor."  
>"Thank you, your highness. Fitzherbert...I'm not even gonna ask," he threw a disturbed glance towards the ex-thief, who was patting snow around the spot where the middle and lower sections of the snowman met.<br>"Hey, the girl's never built a snowman before. Keep your thoughts to yourself!" Eugene yelled after him, but he apparently had much bigger fish to fry, because he didn't retaliate. When the captain left, they looked at each other, laughed quietly, and returned to their snowman.

Little did they know what that letter contained.


	10. Chapter 10: We're At War (Part 1)

**A/N: Continuation of the previous chapter. (Chapter 9)**

"Eugene, Rapunzel - the King and Queen request your presence in their meeting room." Conli poked his head into the library door and announced.  
>"Okay...?" Rapunzel stood, setting her book carefully down on her chair. Eugene stood as well, and they went to the opposite end of the castle, where the meeting room was at.<br>Her parents were bent over a letter - the same letter that the captain of the guards had delivered himself two days ago.  
>"Mother?" Rapunzel asked, looking between her parents curiously. "What's wrong?"<p>

Her parents set the letter down and her father took off his spectacles, which he only wore when reading. "Sit, both of you, please." he motioned to the chairs lining the long table. They sat, and her parents did as well.  
>"We called you in here to discuss official business with both of you," her mother started, glancing towards her husband.<br>"We just got word that two weeks ago, Queen Elinor and King Fergus of clan Dun'Broch, the King and Queen of Scotland, have been murdered at the hands of the kingdom of Al'vae. A trained assassin infiltrated the castle and murdered them. Their seventeen year old daughter, Merida, has taken over rule of the country. Because we are allies with Scotland, she is requesting backup from our militia to form an attack on Al'vae in retaliation. They do not have enough warriors to defend their country."  
>Rapunzel gasped. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have both of your parents die and be the queen of an entire country at the age of seventeen. She was nineteen and wouldn't be able to do it! "Will our country get attacked as well?"<br>"We won't know. You see, with wars, you can't just plan it out. You don't know what the other side is going to do. From now on, if you or Eugene leave the castle, you _will _have two escorts with you, who will protect you at all times. Eugene, your employer will be notified that you will be unable to attend work until after the war."  
>"But I can still go to work," he scoffed. "Nobody's gonna mess with me. I'm not royalty."<br>"You may as well be. Everyone knows the face of the man who brought our daughter home. The country of Al'vae is not stupid by any means. Neither us nor Scotland are on the best of terms with them due to some cunning trade frauds, among other things. They rival Weselton in their ability to pull the wool over your eyes. A trained assassin could be hired and kill you without you even knowing it was coming. That is how Elinor and Fergus were killed - they came in under the alias of a dignitary from Denmark. Another possibility is that they would follow you back from work and break into the castle, killing you and - or Rapunzel." the King said firmly.  
>Eugene swallowed. "Okay. Point made."<br>"What about all your meetings and stuff?" Rapunzel asked.  
>"We will not be accepting anyone from any other country into ours. Our guards will meet incoming ships and inspect them. The only outsiders we will accept will be Merida and her three brothers," the Queen explained.<br>"How many will be deployed?"  
>"We have decided and picked out fifty soldiers, who will be shipping out in two days' time. We will see how the war goes, and may send more out if need be." the King said.<br>"Who's eligible to go?" Eugene asked. As a kid, he'd always wanted to fight in a war, but now that he had a family of sorts, now that he knew Rapunzel...he was secretly terrified that he'd be sent out.  
>"Any able-bodied man." the King said shortly.<br>"Will you have to go?" Rapunzel asked her father, not even wondering if Eugene would be sent out.  
>"No. I am the commander of any moves, and shipments, anything that is contributed to the war. I send more soldiers out, I give the order to pull them back home. Everything. Because of this, I will stay in the kingdom," the King reassured her.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11: A Birthday and a War(Part 2)

The kingdom of Corona was still locked in war with Al'vae. Their men, combined with Scotland's finest warriors, were losing. Al'vae's infantry was playing dirty, taking muskets and other weapons from the citizens to allow them to overpower Corona and Scotland's militia. Corona's supplies were diminishing, and they were limited to little ammunition for their muskets; lances, swords, and hands-on combat. This cost fifteen lives, not including the Scottish warriors' sacrifices. Emilie's father, who had enlisted with the first shipment of men, had been killed.

Three hundred more of Corona's militia, as well as a group of well-trained infantrymen, were set to be sent out three days after Rapunzel's nineteenth birthday. The kingdom was on the hunt for men willing to fight for the country, aiding in avenging Scotland's King and Queen.  
>Despite the tense worry about the war that was still raging on, plans were made to celebrate Rapunzel's birthday as usual. The kingdom was excited for this, and it seemed as though it was finally something to look forward to and have fun with. They looked forward to the celebration.<br>The kingdom also trusted fully in the King and his renowned strategy skills, knowing that he would lead the country and aid Scotland to the best of his abilities; they would win the war and send Al'vae metaphorically running with its tail tucked between its legs.

But until the war was over and won, the royal family continued to be under extremely close watch. Heightened security was planned for Rapunzel's birthday. A guard was even assigned to watch over the girl as she slept; she _hated _it. She hated having a guard with her at all times. She wanted to be free; free to do as she wanted and go places and spend time with her family and Eugene without having those pesky men watching over her as if something was going to happen any second now. With Eugene's help, she learned how to slip out of her room after the guard fell asleep in the chair by the window; she would often go to the library, read awhile, and fall asleep. Eugene himself managed to evade the guards on multiple occasions, much to the guards' irritation.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, Princess..." Yes, this was almost payback for the girl's rude wake-up calls from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and that one day she'd been extra-excited to go on a walk with him. <em>Almost<em>. Eugene cracked the door, relieved to see that the brunette girl was still asleep in her own bed. The guard slept on the chair by the window, his sword balanced across the arms of the chair.  
>If that guard snored like that <em>all the time<em>, no wonder why Rapunzel might get irritated with his constant presence.  
>The princess was sprawled out on her bed, her face buried in her pillow and Pascal beside her head.<br>Eugene crept in the room - mentally applauding his stealth skills once more - and leaned down to whisper in her ear.  
>"Boo."<br>With a jolt, the girl awoke, gasping. She rolled onto her back and tried to grab the pan she kept at her bedside. Finally, she recognized who was leaning over her. Groaning, she rolled over again, burying her face in her overly-poufy pillow. "Don't do that...you scared me!"  
>At 'you scared me', the guard awoke, jumping out of his chair and knocking the sword to the ground with a clatter. When the sword clattered to the floor, Rapunzel flew upright in bed, staring with wide-eyed surprise. The guard grabbed his sword and thrust it towards Eugene, holding it with a shaky hand.<br>Eugene's hands flew up in the air.  
>"Hey, watch it! Calm down!" he stared the guard down until he sighed, sheathing the sword. Eugene let his hands drop to his sides. "You can leave, by the way. I'll protect her if some terrifying beast jumps through her window."<br>"Sorry, sir, but-"  
>Rapunzel shook her head. "You are relieved of your duties. Thank you," she said, and he gave her a <em>look<em> before leaving the room, leaving the door open. Pascal glared at the guard. She sighed, but reached to swat Eugene's hand with a giggle. "You're awful!"  
>"Hey, you've slept in an hour and I've got a day planned for your birthday, Blondie. If you don't want to have a bit of fun for once, that's your fault."<br>She rubbed her eyes, yawning. "I was up reading until two."  
>"Then we'll just have to take a stop at Attilla's cupcake shop later. Get you hopped up on sugar," he offered, grinning.<br>Her green eyes widened, and she grinned. Attilla's shop was her favorite bakery in the entire country, and she loved visiting the thugs, who had recently moved into the kingdom's town square, which was nearby the castle grounds.  
>"I'm up. I'll be out in a few. Tell that guard that he doesn't have to come back in - I'd like to dress in peace. Even though I dress behind my dressing-curtain and he doesn't watch, it annoys me." she stood out of bed and stretched. Pascal grumbled and dove under her pillow, wanting to sleep longer. The stinking guard kept <em>him <em>up at night, too.  
>"Okay. But wait a minute, okay?" Eugene seemed to remember something, turning on his heel and racing from the room.<br>"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder...right, Pascal?" she said, but realized he was asleep once more. That's when she saw the guard coming back, headed for the open door. "Oohhh, no you don't!" she cried, dashing to slam the doors shut.  
>When she heard fast-paced clomping coming her way, she braced against the doors, even though she knew she'd be no match in keeping the doors shut against the pesky guard. Something slammed into the doors, knocking her back onto her rear.<br>"_OW! _Rapunzel, geez! It's me, open up!" Eugene yelped.  
>Gasping, she scrambled to her feet and whipped the doors open.<br>"Sorry!" she cried. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. I thought you were the guard!" she grimaced as Eugene strode into the room, one arm loaded with a purple bundle and the other holding his nose delicately.  
>He sniffed a few times, rubbing the bridge of his nose delicately. "It's alright. Anyway, ah...happy birthday." he shoved the bundle in the girl's direction, suddenly bashful despite his pain. "I saw it the other day, and..."<br>She unfolded the bundle, which turned out to be a dress. She gasped. It was simple; a lavender with silver swirls along the center piece of the skirt. The bodice had silvery cords tying it shut, and it was just perfect. "Oh, _thank you! _Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" she set it aside and flung her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.

He grinned, the hug making up for the door to the face. "You're welcome."  
>Just like that, she shooed him from the room and quickly dressed, brushing her hair and slipping on the necklace she'd gotten from her mother on Christmas. Grabbing Pascal and plopping him on her shoulder, she raced out the door and headed for the dining hall, the new skirt swishing around her ankles.<br>Her parents and Eugene were waiting for her, and Eugene stood up to seat Rapunzel...as did her father.  
>"O-oh," the young man cleared his throat. "Sorry-"<br>"No," the King shook his head with a chuckle. "Go ahead."  
>He nodded, smoothing his black vest before pulling a chair out for Rapunzel. She grinned, sitting down and thanking him when he scooted the chair back under the table.<br>The Queen smiled. "Where did you get that dress? It's beautiful!"  
>"Eugene gave it to me this morning," she smiled and reached to grasp his hand under the table.<br>"Well, that was sweet." she smiled, and the King nodded.  
>"You look beautiful, darling girl," he told her, his eyes crinkling into a smile.<br>"Thank you," she blushed. After eighteen years of belittlement and insults, she still got embarrassed and didn't quite believe anyone when they complimented her.  
>After they ate, Rapunzel and Eugene left - with two annoying guards -, promising to return by five o'clock, far before the lantern ceremony.<p>

As soon as they left the castle, Eugene grinned, disregarding the guards' presence. "You look amazing, by the way."  
>"Ohh...you're just saying that," she tucked a lock of hair away from her eyes.<br>"No, I'm not," he shook his head, trying to keep from smiling more.  
>"Well, thank you," she smiled, grabbing his hand. "Where to first?"<br>"Our first stop is to go see the, ah...pub thugs."  
>Her pretty eyes lit up. It had been <em>forever<em> since she had visited them last!

They made their way to Attilla's shop, convincing the guards that they could stay outside if they wanted. All of the thugs were gathered there and waiting - just as Eugene had requested of them. They welcomed her and Eugene with robust, rowdy yells, and the small princess waded in amongst the huge men, hugging each and every one of them.

"So, you're not married yet? Gee whiz, what're you waiting for?" the Big Nose thug joshed Eugene.  
>"Hey, we will sometime. She's only been out of the tower a year," Eugene said, mildly offended. He shook his head, watching the girl interact with the men.<br>Attilla brought a huge batch of cupcakes out, and Rapunzel snagged two, hurrying back to Eugene and offering him one.  
>"Thanks," he chuckled, taking it and watching as she ate her own. Before she left to go back to the thugs, he snagged her shoulder, noticing some stray frosting on her face. "You've got, ah-" he motioned awkwardly with his fingers.<br>"What?" she quirked a brow, suppressing a laugh.  
>"You've-oh, c'mere." he laughed, wiping some pink frosting from above her lip. Holding his frosting-smeared finger up, he showed her what he'd been trying to get her to wipe off. He opened his mouth to say something, but she'd already turned away, planning to give cupcakes to the guards outside. The second she came back in, he tried to get her attention, but his call was drowned out by Hook-Hand's louder yell.<br>He shook his head again. How could he be jealous of the thugs? He considered the cupcake in his hand and bit it with vengeance - as if it was the cupcake's fault she was stranding him at the shop for the rough, rowdy men that she somehow adored.

At around two in the afternoon, they left to walk the town some more, and much to the guards' disgust, Rapunzel struck up a lively dance in the town square, just as she had a year before. Only this time, she made sure she got to dance with Eugene some.

At five, they raced back to the castle, losing sight of the guards. They tore into the dining hall, ten minutes late for dinner. Rapunzel left a tired Pascal in her room, and then they ate her favorite dinner - hazelnut soup - before her parents presented her with some new paints and art materials. Her eyes glimmered with excitement, and she couldn't wait to put them to good use.  
>Straight afterwards, they went to the balcony outside of the castle, with four guards watching out for them. A single lantern awaited, tethered to the stone railing.<br>The King and Queen took their places, motioning for their daughter to stand between them. A loud, clamoring roar rose from the crowd. Rapunzel lifted the lantern gently up, releasing it into the evening sky. She watched it, awestruck once more. Her parents each put an arm around her, and the little family was silent. Eugene stood by the door, watching. A familiar pang filled his stomach, the one that came every time he saw Rapunzel with her family. He longed for his own family - his parents.  
>Almost as if she knew, Rapunzel soon pulled away from her parents and led Eugene over to the edge of the balcony so they could watch the villagers send their lanterns into the sky, and he finally wasn't left out.<br>"Thank you, all of you, for the wonderful birthday," she smiled, hugging both of her parents before returning to Eugene's side. "It was the second-best birthday _ever_, despite the guards. The best birthday ever was last year, even though you kind of left me and I thought you betrayed me, and...you know." she laughed, turning to Eugene.  
>"Oh...your first birthday with us, and you're nineteen," her mother's eyes filled with tears, mourning the years lost.<br>"But I'm back now," she grinned. "Because of him!"  
>"Hey, you figured it out on your own. I had no clue you were the princess," he shook his head.<br>"But you took me out of there and showed me the lanterns," she pointed out, slipping under his arm. _Finally._  
>He didn't hide his smile as he pulled her snug up against him. A few moments of silence passed, and he sighed nervously. Now or never.<br>Her parents knew his plan, he couldn't chicken out. "Rapunzel?"  
>"Hm?" she pulled away, obviously shaken out of a daydream of some sort. She met his eyes with a curious smile.<br>"Well...we've known each other for a year. I love you more and more with each day, and you're everything to me. Would you be...uh..interested in taking this ring off my hands?"  
>She froze, her gorgeous eyes wide as panic set in. He knelt in front of her, pulling the ring from his pocket.<br>"I-I..." she gulped. Yes, she wanted to marry him, but she was scared. And the country was at war, and she didn't want to have a celebration _now_, it just didn't seem right, and..."No. I'm...I'm sorry."

He nodded, swallowing his disappointment as he pocketed the ring. Her parents exchanged surprised glances. "It's okay. I shouldn't-"  
>"No, Eugene, it's just that the country's at war and it doesn't seem right to be celebrating a marriage when the war's going on, and I'm...I'm just not ready yet. I'm scared," she whispered the last part, worried he'd be mad at her.<br>He stood, taking her hands in his. "It's fine. I'll wait for you, I think you know that already."  
>"I <em>do <em>want to marry you, I promise. I'm just not ready," she reiterated.  
>"Well, I'll be here when you're ready, and I'll ask you the second this war's over," he winked, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled, relieved he wasn't mad. She grabbed him up into a hug, but then they went to sit with her parents, watching the lanterns until she fell asleep, her head in her mother's lap.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12: His Departure (Part 3)

"Sir?" The young man strode into the King's meeting office, more than slightly concerned. What had he done _now_?  
>"Take a seat, please," the older man nodded, and Eugene sat, never letting his eyes leave the King's pale blue ones. He couldn't read the expression on his wrinkled face.<br>"What's going on?" he asked finally.  
>He took a deep breath, as though he didn't want to say what he was going to say. Oh, this must be bad. "Eugene, much as I hate to say this, you must go to the war. The captain of the guards has fallen ill, and is unable to be deployed. You must take his place."<br>_Must_. No ifs, ands, or buts? Fantastic.  
>"When...when do I leave?" he was hoping he'd leave sometime <em>after <em>the ship of men set to leave in two days.  
>"With the ship in two days. You're good to go. You'll be given a crash course on the ship and be part of the infantry. It's more involved with strategies and communications, so you'll not be in the field as much as the militia and other parts of the infantry. The captain's right-hand man. You're smart and that position will keep you a little safer."<br>Eugene thought he was going to pass out. Maybe if he did, he'd get lucky and smash his head off of the desk in a face-plant, injuring himself so he couldn't go, either.  
>"There's no way around this?"<br>"No. I apologize, and I do feel terrible for the short notice, but it has to be done."  
>He rose from his chair, but Eugene felt glued to the spot, terror seeping into his bones. But another thought crept into his mind, twisting his stomach into a knot. "Rapunzel..."<br>"I know. Don't worry, I am sure you will come back safely. Your deployment will be six months long, and you will come back with the others unless something happens. Remember, fighting will help to keep her safe. Al'vae has been making threats to attack Corona," he said, nearly wheedling.  
>He nodded, gulping. He did have a point.<br>"But do _not_ tell her - she mustn't be worried-:  
>"Tell who what?" Rapunzel's voice came from the doorway.<p>

Both men turned to see her, and Eugene stood up out of his chair even though he felt like his knees wouldn't hold his weight. He couldn't leave her. But...he'd go to the ends of the earth to keep her safe.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking between her father and her beau.  
>"Nothing, dearest-"<br>"Tell her. She has to know, sir. I won't let you just make something up-"  
>"Eugene." the girl's father said sharply, giving him a venomous glance.<br>"He's...you're going to war, aren't you?" she barely whispered it, and her voice cracked as her eyes widened and she realized what was going on.  
>The King sighed, explaining the reason why he was sending Eugene in.<br>She teared up, clapping a hand to her mouth. She'd heard the reports. They weren't doing well. More and more men were dying out there. Al'vae's soldiers were flatout blood-lust.  
>Her father held his arms out to her, offering a hug, but the gesture immediately reminded her of Gothel - how she'd always had to go to her for a hug, and she turned away from him. Eugene was the only one who understood her aversion to the gesture, and immediately strode up to her, grabbing her up in his arms. She buried her face into his chest.<br>"Do you have to go?"  
>"Mhm...trust me, if I could stay with you, I would." he rubbed her back gently. "But keeping you safe is more important than anything else, and you know what they've been telling us."<br>She looked up at him, her green eyes filled with dread. "When do you go?"  
>"In two days," the King supplied.<br>She let out a small cry.  
>"Hey. Listen, Blondie-" he tried to lighten the mood, but it backfired.<br>"Don't call me that!"  
>He sighed. "Don't worry, okay? I'll come back. You'll hardly even notice I'm gone, I bet!"<br>"I bet I will," she threw back. Pulling away, she turned to her father. "Please, Father. Don't make him go. _Please_! He-"  
>"This was a last resort. I'm sorry, dear."<br>"It's not like it's a death sentence, Rapunzel. I'll come back."  
>"That's what twenty of our own soldiers thought, too! That's what Emilie's father told her. Right. Before. He. Left." she said pointedly and harshly, but her malice was not directed at Eugene. Her father made all the decisions in the war. He'd made this decision, and it would kill Eugene.<br>"You can't worry about something you can't control," Eugene put a hand on her shoulder, but tears spilled out of her eyes, and she fled the room. He gave the King a look to let him know that he didn't appreciate all this, but then tried to rush after her.  
>"Let her go. She needs to cool off."<br>He shook his head. He couldn't let that girl cry alone in her room. But the King grabbed his sleeve and stared him down until he backed down.

* * *

><p>The night before Eugene's departure was a restless one.<br>Things had been tense between Rapunzel and her father, and her father's constant reassurances that it was 'the best for the kingdom' didn't help her frame of mind. She _hated _that excuse.

Rapunzel couldn't sleep. She was so scared for him. The minutes drug by as if they too were trying to stretch their final hours together out. She finally woke Pascal - who hadn't been sleeping either, due to Rapunzel's tossing and turning - and held him in the palm of her hand, watching his barely-visible chameleon face.  
>"What are we going to do, Pascal? He's going away in just a few hours, and I don't have a good feeling about this. But I can't do anything about it, and it's...it's all my fault! If we would've married, he'd be a prince consort, and he wouldn't be able to go out there. And-" she broke her stream of words when a knock sounded at the door. "Come in?" she wondered who else was up at this hour - three AM.<br>Eugene, of course. "I heard you talking to that frog," he teased, hoping to get her to smile, "and thought you could use some company." She nodded, not taking the bait to correct him. She just scooted over, threw her legs over the edge of her bed, and patted the spot beside her. He moved over to the bed, setting his candle down on the beside table. "Why're you up?"  
>"Why are <em>you<em>?" she asked pointedly.  
>"Touche," he sighed. "But I don't want you to worry about me, okay? Leave the worrying to me."<br>"Huh-uh. First off, you're gonna have to concentrate on strategies and keeping yourself and the others alive, so you can't distract yourself with worry. I should be the one telling _you _not to worry!"  
>"Well, you're just scared to lose someone you love. I understand it. C'mon, talk to me - it'll do us both good."<br>"I'm just scared I'll lose you again," she mumbled, ashamed to admit her own fears. "I can't even heal you..."  
>He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't think about that. Don't stop being your hopeful, optimistic self now, okay? This is when you really need to be that way." She nodded and put a hand over his. Suddenly, his calm expression slipped. "Flynn Rider would've never been so scared. You see, when I was a kid...I always wanted to fight in a war. Of course, I didn't know what went on - I just knew that there were swords and a lot of people celebrated when they said it was over, so I wanted to be part of that. But then again...I had nothing to lose then." he admitted quietly. She gave him an empathetic gaze before wordlessly pulling him into a hug.<br>"I'm so sorry...it's all my fault. If we would've gotten married..."  
>"No, it isn't your fault, and don't you dare think for a moment that it is. I won't hold you accountable, so you shouldn't hold yourself accountable."<br>She bit her lip, hugging him tighter. "Okay. And don't you be too scared. Everything will be okay, and...and when you come home, you'll be a prince consort. I promise."  
>"Is that a promise that you'll marry me soon?" he teased.<br>"Yes. I'm sorry, I just wasn't ready-"  
>"It's fine. I said I'd wait. It'll give me something to look forward to when I'm over there," he grinned, but then pulled away and kissed her cheek . "I should let you get to sleep."<br>"Wake me when you get up, okay? I want to see you off."  
>The man shook his head. "We're leaving in around three hours. You need to sleep so you-"<br>"Absolutely _not!_" she said firmly, shaking her head.  
>He chuckled. "Okay."<br>He left the room, but Rapunzel soon got up and went to the library, where she just knew he was at.  
>"Hey. Mind if I stay with you?" He swung around, surprised by her voice, and her face blazed red. "I just want to spend as much time as possible with you."<br>"I'd like that," he grinned, turning back and pulling a book off of the shelf.  
>She nodded, trying to see the title of the book. "Are you reading-"<br>"_Flynnigan Rider_? Yup." he finished for her, sitting on the floor. Rapunzel did, too, and they both read until the King came into the library to get Eugene.

At the dock, the clamoring crowd of over three hundred men, all with their families, was nearly deafening. Rapunzel stuck close to Eugene's and her father's sides. Women and children were crying, hugging men in uniforms similar to Eugene's. One woman was sobbing uncontrollably, wailing that she'd already lost her father and brother to the war; she couldn't lose her husband, too. She clutched her rounded belly; she was obviously with child.  
>When it was time for Eugene to board, Rapunzel grabbed him in a tight hug, burying her face into his chest and drinking in his familiar scent. He buried his face in her shoulder, whispering to her. His warm breath puffed against the skin of her neck, and she shivered away. "It'll be fine, sweetheart."<br>She caught her breath. He'd never called her anything except Rapunzel or Blondie. She nodded, gulping. "I know. You'll be okay. I love you. I love you so much."  
>He looked about ready to cry - as did the majority of the soldiers surrounding him as they all said goodbye to their families. "I love you too. I'll be back before you know it."<br>"And I'll be waiting. Stay safe, okay?"  
>"I will. Same to you," he smiled and bent to kiss her.<br>A loud yell came over the crowd, announcing for all of the soldiers to line up and board. They pulled away, and she gave him one last, tight hug before he left.  
>He turned back and waved to her and the King; she returned it and blew a kiss in his direction before he disappeared in the sea of uniformed men.<br>The wailing woman from earlier appeared at Rapunzel's side and collapsed to her knees, sobbing as she watched who must have been her husband leave. Rapunzel knelt beside her. "It'll be okay." The woman didn't realize who was comforting her.  
>"I've lost everyone already. I can't lose him. I <em>can't<em>!" she cried. Her face was red, and closer up, she seemed to be younger than Rapunzel. "Our first baby has to see its father! It's the only other family it'll have!"  
>"I'm sorry," she said quietly, swallowing to try to rid the lump in her throat. "You've just got to hope for the best and...and take care of yourself and that baby. How far along are you?"<br>"Six months," she choked. "It'll be born before he's back. I ca-can't...lose him!"  
>"I know." she put her arms loosely around the woman and let her cry on her shoulder.<p> 


	13. Chapter 13: The Orphanage (Part 4)

**A/N: Thank you once more for the continued support for the story. I appreciate all the notes, follows, and favorites! This chapter was suggested by silviatangled.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Two months passed without much gain - but there wasn't any loss, either. Rapunzel yearned for Eugene, and hadn't been quite herself since he left. She was just so worried about him. She was lonely despite Pascal. She was never alone, but she always <em>felt<em> alone, even if she was surrounded by the castle workers. She took to helping the chef in the kitchen, although he didn't necessarily appreciate her company. Her princess training was finished, and she hardly saw either of her parents after her last lesson. They were always busy, mostly with things pertaining to the war.

But one particularly sunny day close to the end of August, her mother pulled her aside.  
>"I found the orphanage Eugene spent his childhood in; we're going to volunteer there today."<br>Rapunzel's eyes widened with surprise and excitement. But then she bit her lip. "We won't go with guards, will we? They'll scare the kids."  
>Her mother shook her head. "We can't risk-"<br>"I'm so sick of this!" she cried. "Will someone _really_ kill us when we're en route to an _orphanage_?" After her outburst, she formed an idea.

Twenty minutes later, the Queen and her daughter slipped out of the castle's public entrance, in their shabbiest dresses and old cloaks that covered their faces. They carried books and made their way to the orphanage at a quick pace.

When they reached the small, shabby building, Rapunzel eagerly pushed open the wooden door.  
>Kids were screaming, crying, yelling; running, throwing things, chasing one another in play. Babies wailed from cribs, which were pushed into one corner.<br>A young, frazzled brunette raced over to them. "We are _not _accepting any more babies!" she yelled, trying to push Rapunzel outside.  
>Alarmed, she glanced down at her midsection. "I'm not-" she slipped her hands from her cloak, which held several books and had created a bulge. "We're here to visit, to read to them!"<br>As she said it, the Queen pulled their hoods off.  
>The woman gasped. "I am so sorry, your-"<br>"It's fine," Rapunzel was far more forgiving, smiling and stepping inside. The young woman moved hurriedly to the center of the large room, loosing a shrieking whistle to catch the children's attention to explain their visitors. They rarely ever got visitors willing to just spend time with them; their eyes widened with excitement and soon, both of the women had children piling around them, clamoring for the best seat. Rapunzel pulled a small, red-haired boy onto her lap and opened her book, waiting for the children around her to quiet down before she spoke up. Seven faces, smudged with dirt, watched her intently, their eyes shining with excitement.  
>"These are the tales of Flynnigan Rider. He's the richest man alive, a swashbuckling rogue, and the ladies adore him; but once upon a time, he was not so lucky. This is his rags-to-riches story, which begins in a small cabin in a faraway land..."<p>

Rapunzel left the orphanage changed. Every chance she got afterwards, she slipped away to help at the orphanage. She read, played, and let Pascal entertain the children. She held and fed the babies, kissing their round cheeks and soothing their red-faced sobs. She helped clean and bake and taught the girls how to braid hair. She tried to imagine what kind of a child Eugene had been. Most of all, she enjoyed helping at the orphanage because she wasn't alone. These kids appreciated her, and soon began to greet her at the door, asking what she was going to do with them today. Her mother accompanied her, but only when possible.

In September - halfway through Eugene's deployment - she finally wrote to him. It was a short letter, but it was all she could think of to tell him at the time.  
><em><br>Eugene,  
>I'm sorry for never writing until now. I simply cannot wait for you to come home - I'm counting down the days! I love you so much, and hope you know it. Everything is okay on the home front. How are things going there? I hope this letter finds you in good health. Even Pascal misses you! While you're away, I've been helping at the orphanage. You'll have to come with me sometime when you get home - those kids are so sweet. I'm praying you get home in time for Christmas - I pray every day for you, actually. I love you more than anything in the entire universe, and I just really hope you're okay. I wanted to send over a copy of your favorite book, but I thought you might not have the time to read it; plus, when I got the chance to ask Father about it, he said we were unable to send parcels into the infantry post. Anyway...hugs and kisses waiting for you, and I hope to hear back from you.<br>With love, Rapunzel._

She sent it to the infantry's latest post address, with a kiss and a prayer that it found him safe.


	14. Chapter 14: Taken Prisoner (Part 5)

Eugene muddled through his daily drills. The shoves, impatient yells, and arguments thrown on him by older, more experienced soldiers eventually turned into planning the infantry and militia's next moves, based on the king of Corona's plan of action, which was supported by Queen Merida. He'd gotten thrown into the role of captain of the infantry nearly by accident - but the countries started gaining ground in Al'vae after he took over, he wasn't gonna lie.  
>But regardless of his beginner's luck, he still couldn't get his mind off of Rapunzel. He always hoped for some word from her, but it never came, and that worried him. Had she gone back on her word; was she courting some rich prince who didn't have to lift a finger in this war?<br>The letters to the soldiers were delivered weekly, but it wasn't until the middle of October that he received a letter from her.

The men under his command, of course, joshed him for being a hopeless romantic - as if they were all tough guys! Far from it. No matter how tough they tried to seem, they all secretly hoped for word from home.  
><em>Home. <em>Eugene had never put much stock into the word, but he'd learned that home wasn't a place, but instead the people you loved.

He had to fight Sebastian and Lee, two rowdy and teasing men, off in order to read his letter in peace. It was short, but he appreciated it anyway. He tore through the words written neatly across the paper, his eyes filled with satisfaction. After re-reading it - twice - , lying on his back on his cot, he put it up to his nose, hoping it smelled like her. It didn't. Sighing, he resumed staring at the paper, tracing his finger over her delicately-written signature.  
>Sebastian thunked him upside the head with his helmet.<br>"Stop lookin' so down and write back to her. You'll be home soon, cap."  
>He nodded. "Did you hear from your wife?"<br>"O' course. She never misses a week writing. I just got four letters - the month of September," he grinned toothily before leaving Eugene in peace. The young man curled up on his side, facing the makeshift tent's side and holding the paper to his face a moment, considering what he wanted to write to his beloved. Things had been going well, yes, but tomorrow was their biggest move.  
>They had located the captain of Al'vae's forces, and their next move was to attack. They weren't going to kill him; they were going to capture him.<br>It was their riskiest move yet.  
>Sighing, Eugene got up and rummaged for some spare paper and ink. He'd write a letter to her and give it to the man who was in charge of getting any special items back to them at the end of the day. If someone...wasn't able to get them back, it would be sent to their family when the letter updating the King of their current position was sent out - which was every Sunday.<p>

The next day, they stocked up on what ammunition they had left, gathered their muskets, swords, daggers, and other weapons.  
>Eugene took his place in front of the entire group of soldiers, who were staring back expectantly at him, waiting for his orders. His palms were sweaty. How many of them would make it out today?<br>"We're going to stay safe today. Our mission is to capture Boone: nothing more and nothing less. You'll report back to the office at the end of the day, and hopefully, we'll be back home in a month. Now, here's our plan..."

* * *

><p>"...Two...one...go. Go, go, go." Eugene hissed, and the men charged the ramshackle office. His men moved stealthily inside, quickly but quietly. Several of the Scottish warriors, about as bloodthirsty as Al'vae's soldiers themselves, came racing in, pounding their chests and yelling in Gaelic.<br>Eugene stopped them. "Hey, hey, hey! You guys know we need to be quiet."  
>"Och, but we're gettin' revenge, laddie! Ye know nothin' of prop'r revenge! Out' the way!" a wild-haired man exclaimed, pushing past.<br>Eugene grabbed his skinny arm. "Well, laddie, do _you_ want to live? You won't unless you keep with the plan. It's not a threat, it's a fact."  
>The man glared for a moment, unwilling to back down. Scotland wanted the opposing captain's head on a plate to deliver to Queen Merida. But then he huffed, motioning to the men crowding behind him, and they settled down from a boiling rage to a slow simmer.<br>"Thank you." Eugene nodded them through, and then he went in himself.  
>"Well, well. How idiotic are you all? Did you <em>really<em> think we'd be gullible enough to let you all capture me here?" the tall, blond haired captain chuckled. Eugene's eyes widened as he glanced around the building. It was where Al'vae kept their ammunition. The man took a torch from the wall and waved it.

How had he not seen this? It had been too easy. "Men, back off-"  
>"No, not unless you want picked off sooner." Boone warned Eugene, pushing past the crowd to go toe-to-toe with Eugene. He was tall, sure, but Boone was even taller. "I've the rest of our militia waiting outside. Fully armed."<br>"If I start a riot out there, there's a chance you'll get shot, too." Eugene warned.  
>"Maybe, but maybe not." Boone said shortly. "Now, what's your <em>highness<em> going to do? You're out of moves." he taunted him. Eugene clenched his jaw and his fists. Could he knock him out with one hard hit? Or stab him? He fingered the dagger at his side. The other captain chuckled, not even turning when he heard the plethora of swords being unsheathed behind and around him. "I wouldn't. One wrong move and I throw this torch. You know what happens after that. You're not smart, but you all know what happens when you throw fire at ammo."  
>Eugene waved his hand, and even the Scottish warriors backed down.<br>"It'd take one quick swipe to knock that out of your hand, you do know that, right?" Eugene was considering it himself, but he wanted to know if there would be any terrible consequences first. He _wasn't_ stupid, and could tell when someone had all of the bases covered. He caught a flash of something in the window.  
>"My men are positioned everywhere outside, y'know. Some are waiting at the windows. They see me drop the torch, they start firing. They'll tear the place apart, and they'll tear all your men - and Scotland's - up."<br>"And what do you want in trade for their lives?" Eugene asked.  
>He cocked his head, a sly smile crossing his face to reveal foul, rotten teeth. "You, and five of your best men."<p>

"Why?"  
>"Well, a lot of reasons," he turned away, walking back to the front of the building, talking loudly so everyone heard him. "First and foremost, to get all of Corona's secrets. I can't touch Scotland - well, I already did - but you were stupid to ally with and help them. Now you've got to pay the price. You and your men will tell us anything we want to know - don't worry, you <em>will. <em>If you do this, all your men will go free, all of Scotland's warriors will go free, and the royal families will be left unharmed."  
>"And what if we don't? What if we kill you?"<br>"You'll never get out alive. You have no chance to get out alive. Your ammunition is almost gone, and close combat with my men would be deadly. We've all the ammunition in the country; all right here," he waved an arm in a flamboyant gesture, showing off.  
>"Who's to say we can't steal-"<br>"You can't." he shook his head. "You wouldn't live long enough. And besides, regardless of if I'm dead, if you don't comply, your royal family will be murdered. I've already got it planned out: beheading for all but your princess. Beautiful little lady, isn't she? I've seen her. But no, she'll be tortured - among other things. When she finally breaks, she'll get her heart removed from her chest. But anyway, you're not one for details, are you? No, you know all you need to know. Either you comply or all of these men will be killed, along with the royal family of Corona. I might even plan another attack and obliterate Scotland - kill the rest of that royal family as well."

Eugene was sickened. All of the men backed away uneasily. He glanced around at his men. How could he play this? He'd let his finest men go, of course; in case they would need to fight off the men, given that Boone may not keep his word. As if he knew what Eugene was thinking, Boone chuckled. "I already know who your five best men are, so you'll not screw me over on this one."  
>He gulped. "Who's to say I would?"<br>"Oh, come on. Is that even a question?" he laughed. "Now, do we have a deal, or not?"  
>Eugene looked back to his men. Sebastian nodded, stepping up. So did Lee, Louis, and Fredrick. The young Anderson did as well.<br>"Yes," he swallowed. "We do. We have a deal."  
>Boone nodded, moving to put the torch back on its hanger on the wall. Motioning through a window, men barged in and took Sebastian, Louis, Lee, Fredrick, Anderson, and Eugene.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15: When You're Gone (Part 6)

It was the end of October. Rapunzel still had not heard word back from Eugene, and was only mildly concerned. She knew and accepted that he was probably a busy guy. She herself had been busy lately, and split almost all of her time between the orphanage and helping her parents with some of the smaller duties of the kingdom, so they could focus on the war efforts.

She was engaged in a friendly conversation with the Queen and one of the Princes of Scotland - Queen Merida and one of her five year old brothers, Hamish. She still had no idea how the girl managed to run clan Dun'Broch, let alone be Queen of an entire country, and raise her brothers, when she was just seventeen!  
>The redhead was here to share information on the war, of course. They had not heard much back from their soldiers: Merida hadn't heard from her warriors, and the King and Queen of Corona hadn't heard back from their soldiers, either. It was a concern, of course, but the communications took plenty of time to arrive from overseas.<p>

Directly after the plotting for any emergency moves, Merida brought up the topic of seeing a stable just nearby the castle, so the two girls caught up in a lively discussion about equines, a mutual fascination. The King had been called outside of the room to attend to something, so they took no time turning the conversation into something much more lighthearted.

"Rapunzel, darling,"  
>"...and so Maximus-" Rapunzel trailed off and turned to see her father in the doorway. He bowed to Merida and Hamish, but cleared his throat when he straightened.<br>His blue eyes were unreadable as he stared pensively at his daughter. "Come, please. You may be excused from tea."  
>The brunette shot a curious glance to her mother, but the look on her mother's face was dread, not curiosity.<br>"I-it was nice meeting you, Merida. And you too, Hamish! You'll make a fine warrior someday!" she bent to ruffle his hair teasingly -to which he glared and batted her hand away- and then she hurried over to her father. "What is it?"  
>He silently took her arm and led her into his office, where a thick envelope lay on top of a pile of documents and maps. He wordlessly slipped a letter from it and handed it to her before sinking into his chair and burying his face into his hands.<p>

_October seventeenth  
>We have gained a bittersweet victory. We are waiting to hear our next commands from you and Queen Merida of clan Dun'Broch, Queen of Scotland, and then we are hoping to be back in our wonderful kingdom of Corona by the beginning of December. However, the victory was not made without sacrifices. Threats were made to the royal family of Corona: torture, beheading, and other injuries were threatened if the Captain and his best soldiers were not taken Prisoners of War. The Captain accepted the price in order to keep the royal family safe; he and five others are presumed dead after a failed rescue mission. It was only due to the Captain and his men's valor that we won victory over the kingdom of Al'Vae. After the failed rescue mission, the current Captain was in numerous meetings to negotiate terms of peace; another document inside this packet will contain the terms we were able to negotiate with Al'Vae's higher authorities. If you find them acceptable, we shall complete the legal documents in this country and will return home.<br>Please notify the families of the following, and give the letters addressed to them:_

_Martin Killian, KIA/deceased_  
><em>Sebastian Granger, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Lieutenant James Killian, KIAdeceased_  
><em>Louis Taylor, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Lee Jonathan, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Fredrick Taylor, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Anderson Whittaker, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Captain Eugene Fitzherbert, POWpresumed deceased_  
><em>Winston Greggs, injuries sustaineddeceased_

Rapunzel set the paper down on the table numbly. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be.  
>"I-is this true..?" she didn't look up at her father, she couldn't. All she could do was stare at the scrawled name of her beloved.<br>"I'm so sorry, my girl. I am so sorry." He stood and drew her into his arms, and she leaned into them, burying her face into his thick, long sleeve. Sobs wracked her body. She couldn't believe it. He was gone. The man who had saved her, the very reason she was standing inside this castle, the man who had shown her what life truly was about...he was gone. The young man, so full of life, teasing, and love...taken away because of some wretched, horrible country.

She heard her mother's heeled shoes clicking into the room. Her father didn't say a word, but she heard her mother pick up the paper, drop it a moment later, and gasp. She felt her mother's hand stroke her hair and then hug her from behind.  
>"My precious girl," she said thickly. She sounded as though she was fighting off tears herself. "Oh, my precious girl..."<p>

Hours later, Rapunzel somehow found herself in her room. She couldn't remember much of the entire day. She was still in shock. She was curled in a ball, her face buried into her overly-thick blanket. Pascal, now a depressing shade of blue, was pressed up against the hand she held clutched to her chest. She barely noticed when her mother came into her room and sat on the edge of her bed.  
>"His action saved this kingdom, as well as clan Dun'Broch," she said quietly.<br>"But why did it have to be this way, Mother? Why couldn't they have planned something else, something that would have brought all the men home instead of them being taken and killed?" She looked up at her mother with swollen eyes.  
>"I don't know, dearest," she sighed. "Eugene was somehow made the captain of the army, which he should never have become. I am sure he made the best decision possible. He was smart. He wouldn't have done it if he knew there was another way."<p>

Rapunzel nodded silently. Her mother was right. Her mother scooped her up onto her lap, holding her like she would a child that had just had a nightmare.  
>"Sweetie, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could tell you how much I wish this had had a better outcome, but I can't even find the words to express-"<br>"It's okay," Rapunzel shook her head, pulling out of her mother's embrace. "I can't...I can't think of anything to say, either."  
>"Well...will you come down for supper in a few hours, dear?"<br>She nodded, even though she had no intent of doing so. She just wanted to be alone.  
>"Okay. Don't be afraid to talk to me, honey. I can help you."<br>She nodded again, and her mother left the room.  
>The princess curled in a ball. She was numb. She couldn't cry anymore, she couldn't scream, even though the urge to do so seemed stuck in her throat. She wanted to pound her fists against the wall, scream until her throat went raw, cry...something, <em>anything<em>, to make herself feel. She hated feeling numb. She couldn't even think straight.  
>A couple of hours later - or it could have been <em>days<em>, but Rapunzel doubted that -, the King walked slowly into her room, unannounced.  
>He sat on the edge of her bed, holding a sheet of paper in his hand. "This was in the envelope for you."<br>Her father didn't know what to do for her. She reacted so differently than her mother, who he had comforted for eighteen years after his daughter's disappearance. He longed to comfort her, but he didn't know _how. _  
>"Thank you," she bit her lip, taking the paper from him.<br>"Would you like me to bring your dinner up to you? It's almost time for supper."  
>She shook her head. "No thank you."<br>Silence surrounded them, and he stood and left.

She finally glanced down at the paper, disinterested in whatever it was. But then she caught a flash of Eugene's handwriting.  
>Gasping, she flattened the paper out and read it.<br>_Hey, Blondie. _She gasped, a sharp pain tearing through her. Her eyes somehow found the extra moisture to blur.  
><em>It's so good to hear from you. I was starting to think you ran off with some rich jerk or something! Not really - but...well, maybe. Things are going fairly well over here, I mean...it's war. I've got quite a few stories to tell you when we get home; I'm sure you'll enjoy them. All funny, of course. These guys are all big moron goofballs...I suppose you could say I'm one, too, though. It's good to hear you're keeping yourself busy - yes, you'll have to let me accompany you to the orphanage. Is it the old one I was in? Mrs. Brigsly runs it? If the old woman's still alive, I'd be amazed, though. But anyway - I hope I'll be home in time for Christmas, too. I don't want to spend it over in this stinking country. But if I don't, maybe we'll have to have a second Christmas when I get back, huh? Would you do that for your handsome thief? <em>She was sobbing now. She could practically hear him; as if he was sitting beside her telling her these things. _  
><em>_I love you. I can't wait to see you again. I'm counting down the days, too! Remember your promise to marry me after the war's over, okay? I'll remind you if you forgot. I love you so much, and I hope I can get home soon. Tomorrow we're doing this really important thing, so I hope it'll be the end to the war - it will be, if all goes well. I'm sure your dad will let you know when we're coming home.  
>Love you more than anything.<br>-Eugene._

Correction: maybe it would have been best to not be able to feel at all. She crumpled in on herself, sobbing violently. Pascal bumped against her, and she looked at him.  
>"He's...oh...he's <em>gone<em>, Pascal, and it's all my fault! It's all my fault, it's all my fault!" she grew louder as the thoughts poured through her mind, drowning her alive. If she hadn't have been so...so _stupid_, he would be here safe and sound, a prince consort. All he had ever wanted was a family, and now he was _dead. _Because of her stupid hesitation! Someone may as well have torn her heart directly from her chest and thrown it out the window. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, choking on her tears and desperately trying to get her thoughts, her memories, _everything _to stop. She wanted to be numb. And yet, she wept, one of her hands pressed to her churning stomach and the other to her mouth. Her chest felt as if it was becoming tighter and tighter, crushing her alive as if a corset had been cinched ever-tighter around her. The hand of sorrow had her in a tight, suffocatingly tight grip.


	16. Chapter 16: Escape (Part 7)

The stupid guardsmen patrolled the small, filthy dungeon in which Eugene and the five others were held.  
>"Hey, Seb. What time is it, you think?" Eugene asked quietly, catching the attention of the older soldier, who was asleep.<br>He jerked awake, shrugging indifferently to Eugene's question. But then it dawned on him what _today_ was. It was...TODAY.  
>"About eleven in the AM."<br>"Okay."  
>Eugene slipped a piece of charcoal out of his pocket. Of course he'd stolen it-it had rolled practically right into his grasp after they'd spilled a bag full of the stuff, which they'd been using for marking maps. Geez! Finders-keepers. Losers...lose prisoners.<br>He wrote in a tiny, scribbling manner on the floor. The men made a barrier of sorts, crouching so the guards couldn't see.  
>"Hey! What're you doing?" a short, fat guard yelled, banging on the bars of their cage. The men didn't jump in surprise.<br>"Dead mouse. Fresh meat." Anderson, the youngest, who had the least sense of humor, deadpanned. They knew this guard was the queasy sort.  
>They heard a gag, and Eugene swallowed a grin.<p>

When the men had taken the captain and his five best men, they hadn't known that he used to be a thief. Yes, taking five of his best men would be good because they might leak information out about Corona, but that also meant that they'd escape. Eugene hadn't met a prison he couldn't escape from. One way or another, he always managed to get out.  
>They had been in here for three weeks. It was the eighth day of November, they guessed. And it was go time. They'd figure out the rest later. If they had to swim in the frigid water to get home, they would. Or at least Eugene would be willing to do so.<br>In the weeks they'd been held prisoner, they'd been tortured, beaten, whipped...Lee had obtained a small burn, as well. They were given barely any food, but managed to keep their strength up in order to escape. In the time they'd been held there, Eugene had memorized the patterns. The remaining soldiers - fifteen - were used as guardsmen, patrolling the place like disgusting ants. The captain of Al'vae's militia was the one in control of torturing them.  
>At approximately eleven-sixteen AM, every day, he came for one of them.<p>

They heard clomping boots, and Eugene nodded to his men. "We can do this," he whispered. "Be brave, men. We'll be home soon."  
>He fell down across the charcoal as if he had been sleeping there.<br>"Get up, Fitzherbert, lazy piece of flesh." Boone kicked a pebble into the small confinement. Eugene started, moving in such a manner that the charcoal was smeared nicely up off of the floor, leaving just a smudge of dirt across his back. "Take your shirt off. You don't deserve clothing, you fool."  
>He nodded, despite the fact that he was already fighting off a bout of some illness. He complied, taking his shirt off.<br>"Drop it." Boone held his hand out, stopping Eugene.  
>He glanced down at the shirt. He could use this. Improvisation at its finest: he could pull this off. "But those idiots will just wear it. You don't want that, right? I don't."<br>Of course he didn't mean any of that. Boone nodded, realizing he was in more control of the fool than he thought.  
>"Drop it out here, then. Far enough away that they can't reach out and get it."<br>Eugene nodded, shuffling out of the door.  
>Before Boone could slam the door on his friends, Eugene whipped the shirt around the man's neck, pulling tight. He hated doing this. He hated it. But he had to. "Go, go, go!" Eugene yelled. So much for stealth - Boone was yelling and gasping. He'd alerted the guards.<br>The five men charged out of the cell. They grabbed the weapons that were piled lazily on the floor, and raced down a corridor.  
>As soon as he could, he tore off, leaving Boone's body on the floor. He was without a weapon, but managed to snag one before he caught up with the others.<br>"We doing okay?"  
>Louis nodded, motioning for the men to press against a dirty wall, motioning to fall silent. They did, and heard no more footsteps. "Okay," he breathed, leading them down a hallway that was uncomfortably barren.<br>"Something's not right. Be on the lookout," Eugene warned.  
>They made it out of the building, and were confronted by two last men. They had muskets.<br>"Split up! Split up!" Eugene yelled. "They can't get all of us!" The men all ran in separate directions. Both of the guards ran after Eugene. "Bet you can't catch me!" he yelled behind him, taunting to keep them hot on his tail. The men were supposed to go as fast as they could to the dock - and pray that their ship was still there.  
>He heard a musket getting loaded behind him, and started a zigzag run. He heard the musket fire, and although a fragment scraped his thigh, he was unharmed otherwise. He felt a thick, hot trickle of blood come from his thigh, and he finally turned around, slowing his pace. Drawing the sword he'd stolen, he realized the men were unarmed except for their muskets. Get the muskets from them and they'd be defenseless. Easy, peasy.<br>He took a deep breath, feigning a strike towards the men. As the taller one tried to load his musket, Eugene knocked it from his hand, slicing him with the sword. He loosed a shriek of pain, and the other aimed his own musket. With expert precision, Eugene nicked the other man's shoulder as he slid his sword blade into the musket's shoulder strap. When the man dropped it with a gasp of pain, he slipped the musket easily away from him before he even knew what was happening. They both lunged.

Sebastian and Louis pulled an injured Anderson along between the two of them, Lee and Fredrick went in front of and behind them and covered for them.  
>They yelled with excitement when they saw their ship - the big beauty! - was still docked.<br>The men pounded on board and after the initial shock, all the men remaining on the ship greeted them rowdily, passing a drink of rum around to all of them.  
>"Where's cap?" a lieutenant asked. They were nearly ready to leave the wretched country.<br>"He's coming. Wait for him," Sebastian reassured him, taking a deep gulp of the harsh liquid and watching as Anderson's wounds were tended to.  
>A half an hour passed, and Eugene finally barreled onto the ship, heaving and choking for air. "We're good. They're taken care of. We're good. Good work, men."<br>A loud shout arose from every corner of the ship, and the ramp was raised. "Let's go home, men!" the ship's captain yelled, and yet another celebratory shout rose.  
>Eugene stumbled to his bunk, crawling into it with a groan. He had snagged a wet rag from the doctor, and used it to clean his injured leg, as well as a couple minor slashes from a knife. Finally, he scrubbed furiously at the blood speckling his hands and chest, coughing and still out of breath from his crazed run for the ship. The doctor, who he'd been avoiding, came to tend to his wounds, cleaning the cuts on his back from the torture sessions and disinfecting the other wounds before confirming a cold, which had turned into very mild pneumonia. He gave him a gulp of some horrible, harsh alcohol, which he said would 'burn any sickness out of his body'. He believed it. But all he cared about for now was to get home and see his girl. He didn't want to think about the deaths he'd caused today.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17: Return (Part 8)

On the day of the soldiers' arrival back home, the King approached Rapunzel at breakfast.  
>"Dear, would you please accompany me to welcome the troop home? Your mother has tea with Queen Merida once more, so you should take her place."<br>"Must I, Father?" she asked quietly. She couldn't bear the thought. She felt numb and was lacking the sweet, goofy, and endearing personality she had once had. She just didn't have it in her to _be _her old self anymore, at least not right now. She couldn't convince herself to let go of him, though. She still held out hope that he was somehow okay, that there had been a mistake. She knew it was stupid of herself, but she couldn't help it.  
>He sighed. "It would be the good thing to do. They've fought for the country as well as Dun'Broch, and we must give both our appreciation to them and our condolences to the families of those who don't get to welcome home a family member."<br>She bit her lip and nodded. Those people probably felt like her. "Okay. I'll go."  
>He reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "That's my girl."<p>

Two hours later, the desolate princess and her father stood at the dock in the chilly, early December air, waiting for the men to come out of the ship. Rapunzel looked around her, pulling her thick cloak a little closer around herself. A few snowflakes flitted through the air, and puffs of warm breath came from her nose. The ramp had already been lowered to meet the wooden deck, but nobody came out for a few minutes. After what seemed to be an eternity, men slowly started flooding out. Most had injuries of some sort, others were okay physically, but looked simply haunted. Rapunzel and her father shook the hands of most of the soldiers that came down - the ones who didn't immediately run past, not even noticing them: they were desperate to get back to their families. Rapunzel watched as the soldiers' faces lit up as soon as they saw their families. Her stomach twisted painfully, but she turned back to shake the hand of another soldier, who smiled before pushing past, calling the name of his wife. She watched as a vaguely familiar woman, carrying a bundle that must have been a young baby, ran towards the soldier. Rapunzel bit back a sigh. She was thankful to all of them, truly she was, and she was glad that they all got to go home to their families; but she couldn't help but wish the welcoming ceremony was over already. That now-familiar feeling of drowning in the air she stood in draped over her like a thick, oppressive blanket. She felt like she just _had _to get away, to get to her bedroom where she could weep violently into a pillow and nobody would know…but she managed to smile once more as she welcomed a tall, young redhead and thanked him for his service. He had an obvious injury to his leg, and he limped past after casting a glance over his shoulder. Following his glance up to the top of the ramp, she tried to figure out how many more soldiers were in there. Another tall man stumbled out of the darkness of the inside of the ship, so there must be plenty more to greet. She watched as the man, who was doubled over after another soldier jostled past him, slowly straightened and leaned up against the railing of the ramp. For a moment, she wished she still had her long hair. She could have healed every single one of these soldiers if she still had her power. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she plastered a smile back on once more and continued shaking the men's grubby hands.

After the majority of the soldiers had exited the ship, the King touched Rapunzel's arm. "Darling, wait here, okay? I have to speak with the captain of the ship. I'll be right back."  
>"Okay," she nodded, giving him a small smile despite her heart dropping with disappointment. She'd be completely alone in this crowd. Could the day become any worse? She supposed it could.<br>"That's my girl. I'll be back." With that, her father disappeared into the crowd.  
>Sighing, Rapunzel returned her gaze to her boots, twisting the edges of her cloak around her hands to warm them. She scuffed a toe across the cold, splintery wood of the dock, noticing the flakes of snow accumulating on the ground and thinking about how Eugene had gone out with her to see her first snow...how he'd proposed...how sweetly he'd smiled...she swallowed the all-too-familiar lump in her throat and pulled her cloak tight around herself, folding her arms around herself. A man, carrying a burlap bag, rushed to find his loved ones again. She moved aside, and bumped into someone else. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, her face turning bright red.<br>The fatherly-looking, older soldier grinned. "That's alright. You're the princess, yes?" he asked.  
>"Yes. Thank you for your service," she smiled. He chuckled and nodded, moving past.<p>

She shuffled back to where she'd originally been standing amidst the crowd. Moments later, two strong arms encircled her waist. Before she could scream or yank away, a warm breath puffed against her cold ear.  
>"You cold?"<br>Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart beat against her chest. Could it be..? She whirled on her heel, almost tripping on her long cloak.  
>"Eugene?" she breathed, staring up at him with disbelief.<br>He gave her a grin - oh, that grin! - and she threw her arms around him, sobbing.  
>"Hey, if I'm gonna make you cry, maybe I should just-" he immediately started to tease, but he put his arms tightly around her.<br>"I thought you were dead!" she cried, looking up to meet his eyes. "How...?"  
>"That's a story for later," he ducked to kiss her cheek, and she grabbed his face with her hands, sprinkling his face with quick, soft kisses that felt like heaven. Chuckling, he guided her lips to his, kissing her fervently. When they came up for air, she stared at him again with a dazzling smile.<br>"I can't believe..." she laughed and grabbed him up into another tight hug. He grinned, holding her slim frame close and then tightening his arms around her when she half laughed-half sobbed.  
>"I love you, sweetheart," he bent to whisper it in her ear.<br>She pulled away enough to see his face, smiling. "I love you too. So, so, _so _much!"  
>The tall man grinned. "Best thing I've heard in almost half of a year."<br>She smiled - gosh, even her eyes danced with a smile! - but then her mother-hen tendencies kicked in. "Are you okay? I mean-"  
>He broke her off, nodding. "I'm a bit sore, but I'm good. I have some new, heh, <em>battle<em> scars, but if you overlook them, I'm flawless," he teased, winking. "Just like I'd never left."  
>"Only adding a lot of mental and emotional damage," Rapunzel said it in a joking manner, but she didn't know quite how true it was.<br>He nodded, pulling her close to him again. She burrowed her face into his chest, drinking in his - albeit smelly - scent. She didn't really care, she was just so happy to have him home. He nuzzled her hair, hiding his smile in her hair.  
>"Rapunzel, what-Eugene?"<br>They pulled away, surprised. The King stared, his mouth agape.  
>"He's alive," Rapunzel looked up at him, not quite believing it herself. "He's alive!"<br>He grinned, reaching a hand out to shake the King's. "It's good to see you again, sir."  
>The King grabbed his hand in a death-grip, but immediately yanked him into one of those awkward handshake-hug deals. Eugene choked in surprise. What was he supposed to do? Hug him back? Would that get awkward? Oh well. He put his arms hesitantly around Rapunzel's father. When the King pulled out of the hug after a split second, clearing his throat, he smiled. "I'm glad you returned. How did you, though? Was there an error?"<br>Eugene shook his head, but then paused. "Well...it's...I don't know. I'll tell you both when we get back to the castle. I'm sure the Queen will want to know, too."  
>The King nodded. Soon after, they left on the short walk back to the castle.<p>

The Queen reacted differently to Eugene's surprise homecoming.  
>She threw a teacup at his head, screaming as if she had seen a ghost. She probably thought she <em>had.<em>  
>Eugene ducked and yanked a surprised Rapunzel out of the way as well, avoiding the woman's spot-on aim. The cup shattered on the wall, but thankfully, it was empty of all but a few droplets of tea. Thank goodness Merida had already left.<br>"Good _night! _I know where you get your tendency to use kitchen items as weapons, Blondie," he joked quietly.  
>"Laurel, he's back, don't kill him!" the King actually joked, too. She huffed, her green eyes wide with terror and another cup in her hand.<br>"What on _earth-_"  
>"If you put that cup down, I'll tell you all about it," Eugene tried to muffle a chuckle. The Queen set the cup down, but then rushed to hug him. Almost as soon as she hugged him, she pulled away and left to ask the chef to serve the late lunch, which had been prepared and waiting.<p>

After lunch had been cleaned up and everyone was warmed up from the inside out, Eugene leaned back in his chair and began his tale.  
>"Well…last month, we were gaining a lot of ground over there. It was bad; it wasn't pretty, but we were winning. Finally, though, we found the captain of the other troop. It ended up being a trap. At one point, he told us that he'd make a deal: our captain and his best men as captors, but the rest could leave. He—he, uh, threatened to come to Corona personally and assassinate the royal family if we didn't comply. He told us that Al'vae's king would be more than ready to attack Corona. I couldn't let that happen, so I agreed to be taken. I was going to try to negotiate to let the other five go, but Boone said he was too smart to fall for any deals made by me. We were imprisoned, and like I'd expected, beaten and interrogated. It only took us a coupla weeks to figure out their routine, and when we had it down pat, that's when we moved. When Boone opened our cell to take me to their torture chamber, he told me to remove my shirt. I did, but I, well...choked him with it. We took what weapons we could find and just made a run for it. We did what we had to. We made it back to the ship right before it was supposed to leave. Made everyone on the ship question their sanity when they saw us, but we made it. All of the men that were imprisoned made it out alive. Anderson came out of it with a gunshot wound and a broken leg, but that was the worst of injuries among any of them. They're truly a group of extraordinary men, sir."<p>

He finally finished his tale, taking a deep breath and blinking a few times.  
>The King nodded. "Yes, a group of extraordinary men, that is for sure. I plan to award all of you, and you will receive honors for being the captain—"<br>"Oh, no. If anyone should get special honors, it should be Seb. He was the encourager; kept everyone upbeat and ready to take action." Eugene shook his head. "I don't know how the fella did it."  
>The King nodded, but the Queen spoke up next. "How did you become captain of the whole troop? Harrison, the man who left Corona as the captain of the group, didn't get killed."<br>"Oh, he got mad one day. He had this huge game-plan for attacking one part of the other country's soldiers, but I knew that it'd end badly, so I confronted him, like I had many times before. I'd made good points about several other faulty plans of his, and everyone tended to agree with me, so he just huffed, told me that if I had such great ideas all the time, I should just be captain, and he stuck his pin on my shirt and went to sit down. In no way did I want to be captain, but it just happened. All of the authorities on site agreed with his decision to hand over the captain's rights to me, so it was official."  
>"Well, I am glad it did. If you had better tactical skills, it was likely for the better. Less people got killed."<br>He nodded, but then turned to look at Rapunzel. "What, no questions from you? You usually have at least thirteen questions up your sleeve."  
>She grinned. "I..sorry to disappoint, but I don't really have many questions. Yet."<br>He shook his head, smiling. "_Yet_."  
>"Yep. Ooh—wait! Why did they assume you dead after a failed rescue mission? What happened?"<br>"Oh, that," he shook his head. "Harrison reclaimed his title of captain after they took me and the others, and so he tried to make a guess as to where they had taken us. He later told me that they had gone into the wrong building. Nobody thought to wonder if they had gone into the wrong building; instead, they assumed that the captors had gotten word of what was going to happen, and they killed us."  
>"So it was due to a faulty report –" the King started.<br>"Not necessarily faulty, just a thoughtless assumption," he said. He glanced back towards Rapunzel. "You knew, didn't you?"  
>She nodded, lacing her fingers together in her lap. "Father showed me the letter when it came."<br>"I'm sorry," he shook his head. "Maybe there was a better way to go about negotiations, but I didn't want to risk anything. I also didn't think they'd tell you I had died, though."  
>"Well, all's well and you're home now, so there's no use wondering about how you could have done things differently," the King said.<br>"I know," he nodded.

The rest of the day was spent catching up. After scrubbing himself and getting into some clean clothes - he'd never been so thankful for his old vests and long-sleeved shirts - Eugene told Rapunzel all of the amusing tales he'd promised in his letter.

* * *

><p>That night, Rapunzel was woken to loud cries. Flying out of bed, she yanked her thin robe on over her nightgown and lit a candle hurriedly before padding down the hallway.<br>She paused, trying to hear where the yells were coming from. Eugene's room.  
>Rapunzel burst through his door, expecting something dreadful. Instead, he was having a nightmare. He was tossing and turning, crying out in his sleep. His hands grabbed and twisted at the blankets.<br>She set her candle down on the stand beside his bed, leaning over him and shaking his shoulders.  
>"Wake up, it's a dream. Wake up, Eugene!"<br>He grabbed her wrists with an iron-tight grip, but then his eyes flew open, alarmed. She instinctively tried to pull away from his grasp - something she'd learned the hard way with Gothel - and when she succeeded in getting her arms away from him, he sat up in bed, coming to his senses and realizing how he'd scared her. He pressed his hands to his eyes and pulled his knees up, rocking slightly. "I'm sorry. I'm-"  
>"It's okay, Eugene," she gave him a worried gaze before perching on the corner of his bed. "It's alright. You were having a nightmare."<br>"I didn't hurt your arms, did I?" he glanced up at her.  
>She shook her head. "I was just surprised." she reached to rub his back comfortingly, but he shied away and looked right at her.<br>"I killed people. Rapunzel, I-I..they had families, too, and...I..I _killed _them over there!"  
>She bit her lip. "I know. But you did what you had to do. You were protecting a lot of other families. It's terrible, but it...I suppose it had to be done, Eugene. You didn't kill them out of cold blood, without any purpose but to spill human blood. You did it to protect your country. They murdered the King and Queen of Scotland, and <em>that <em>was out of malice."  
>He stared at his hands. "I still killed them. Geez, <em>Boone<em> might've even had a family that'll never see him again, and-"  
>"He was torturing you, Eugene...he killed the King and Queen of Scotland, and threatened to do so to us as well. You were just protecting innocent lives." She sighed and reached to put her arms around him.<br>"How can you be so...so _okay_ with it? You're sitting beside someone who killed people!" he pushed away, angry at himself.  
>"How many?" It was blunt.<br>"Five," was his rapid-fire answer. "five, all during the escape from the prison. But I helped guide the others and planned how to kill others-"  
>"You were doing it to protect this country, Eugene," she said softly.<br>"We could've taken them prisoner, get information on possible future attacks-"  
>"And how would you do that?" Rapunzel asked. "You'd be no better than Boone. You'd have to torture it out of them. Killing them, as cruel as it sounds, was more merciful than taking them prisoner to get information out of them."<br>He opened his mouth to contradict her, but then shut it and sighed. She reached to hug him again, and this time, he didn't pull away. His shoulders started shaking. "They wanted to kill you. Torture you and do who-knows-what-else to you and kill you. They wanted to, an-and I'm upset that I killed them! What kind of a person does that make me?"  
>"A compassionate person who didn't want to take other human lives," Rapunzel said quietly. "It would be a bad thing if you <em>didn't<em> regret taking their lives. You'd be heartless. It's normal, Eugene. It's normal to regret taking their lives. But you did what had to be done. You did what my father instructed, if you were the captain. You didn't make the ultimate decisions to kill them. You just created strategies to follow my father's commands, from what I understand."  
>He was quiet for a long time, and buried his face in her shoulder; much like a child seeking comfort and security. Her heart squeezed with empathy. Finally, he pulled away. "You probably think I'm completely foolish to get so upset-"<br>"No I don't, Eugene. I think it's normal and to be expected!" she said firmly. "And I'm sure you aren't the only one who feels this way, either."  
>He shook his head. "I'm not, I suppose, but I'm much better off as far as the nightmares."<br>"Nightmares?"  
>He caught himself. He didn't mean to let that slip. "Oh, I just...have nightmares about the war sometimes. It'll go away eventually. I hope."<br>She nodded, pulling him into a quick hug. "I'm sorry. If you ever have a nightmare or can't sleep, you know where my room is. Come wake me up."  
>He shook his head. "I can get over it myself."<br>"But wouldn't it be nice to not have to, to have someone there to help you, or at least be there for you?"  
>Eugene was used to getting over things by himself. He'd done it since he was five, after all. Nobody had been there for him before; nobody <em>cared<em>. "I suppose, but...well...if I don't get over them - my nightmares - will you...I don't know.."  
>She shook her head. "I won't care. I love you, Eugene, and I promise I'll help you in any way that I can. Geez, I still get nightmares on occasion, still from Gothel, so I can't even imagine what you must be going through."<p>

They didn't say anything for a couple of minutes after that, and then he flopped down on his back, sighing. "I suppose you should get to bed, huh?"  
>"Mmh...if you're okay. <em>Are <em>you okay?"  
>He nodded. "I will be. Thank you."<br>"You're welcome!" she smiled, standing up out of his bed and leaning over to smooth a lock of hair away from his face before kissing his forehead: a simple gesture he hadn't experienced since his parents' deaths. His breath caught, but he managed to say he loved her before she left the room, leaving him reeling and not looking forward to being left alone to fight the dark memories pressing into his skull.


	18. Chapter 18: Lovely Little Day

The brunette princess dashed down the hallway, still fiddling to straighten her corset. Pascal clung desperately to her shoulder, still half-asleep and _not _amused with his owner's enthusiasm. Sure, he was happy that she was perkier, but...let sleeping chameleons lie.  
>Rapunzel spotted Eugene walking through the parlor. Grabbing him from behind - nearly tackling him in the process - she turned him to face her and promptly gave him a firm, excited kiss. He laughed when she pulled away. "Well, good morning, sweetie." he tipped her chin up to steal a quick, soft kiss, and she grinned, wordlessly snagging his hand and pulling him towards the dining hall.<br>She was ecstatic. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to have many breakfasts with her parents since the war broke out, and now Eugene was back, too! They'd have a family breakfast for the first time in nearly half a year.  
>A maid was re-setting the table, clearing two empty plates and replacing them with full, clean ones.<br>"Did my parents already eat, Imelda?" Rapunzel asked.  
>"Yes, Princess. They have a lot of things to plan and finalize today; they asked me to tell you." the tall, plump maid told her, barely pausing her work.<br>Rapunzel's face practically fell. "Okay, thank you," she said softly.  
>So much for the idea of a family breakfast.<br>The maid, Imelda, nodded, slipping out of the door after setting the table.  
>"Hey," Eugene pulled a chair out for her. Once she sat, he pushed the chair to the table and plopped down in the chair next to her, turning to watch her. "What's wrong?"<br>"Oh, nothing," she brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "I was just looking forward to a breakfast together with my entire family. I suppose they're still too busy for that." she shook her head and glanced at Pascal, who made a clicking sound with his tongue.  
>Eugene reached to squeeze her hand. "I'm sorry. They've been pretty busy, I suppose, right? So you've been alone quite a bit lately?"<br>"They're busy," she repeated, refusing to say flat out that she _had _ been alone lately. A lot. And she felt almost a bit neglected, but it was simply due to the fact that it reminded her of long, lonely days in the tower. She should be used to it, actually.  
>"Well...I'm sure things will calm down soon," he reassured, stabbing at his food with his fork, still holding the princess's hand with the other.<br>She nodded. "And I have you, now, too," she cast a quick, sidelong glance towards him.  
>He caught her glance and winked. "And I have the entire day, in which I hope to spend with a certain someone."<br>"Mmm...and who might that be?" she grinned, trying to sound unsuspecting.  
>"Oh, this stunning young lady I know. Beautiful green eyes, dazzling smile..." he trailed off and smirked. "Strange frog companion-"<br>"Chameleon," she corrected, just as he'd hoped. "And you're just saying that." she eyed him to let him know she wasn't going to fall for a bit of flattery.  
>"Who says you don't have pretty eyes and a killer smile? They're obviously blind. Give me a name and an address and I'll beat them up for you," he teased.<br>She gulped her mouthful down to stick her tongue out at him teasingly. "I can take care of myself, don't worry."  
>"Hey! Don't make me pull out the smolder-"<br>"Which I _broke_, need I remind you. Point made that I would have already beaten someone up if they insulted me, if I had wanted to?" she threw back, teasing.  
>"Oh, please. You know that the smolder is still fully functional."<br>"And still as weird as ever, dear," Rapunzel pointed out with a giggle.  
>He shook his head. "You're impossible."<br>"And you're awful!"

The playful bickering lasted throughout breakfast and echoed down the hallways as the princess trotted backwards, leading him to the painting room as she continued their steady stream of teasing.  
>"You know, your princess-training stuff has <em>really <em>paid off."  
>"Hey, I finally finished training!"<br>"Well," he laughed, "it obviously didn't sink in."  
>She swatted his arm. "Hey!"<br>"You started it," he flinched away from another playful punch. Thinking fast, he grabbed her arm and trapped her by wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders, threatening to tickle her. Gasping, she wormed away from him, but ended up letting him catch her again anyway. She was enjoying this whole thing way too much to let it stop!

They spent the entire day together. Rapunzel showed off her newest paintings, and then they went to the library, where they spent the majority of the chilly December day. Rapunzel filled him in on how her past six months had gone, and as usual, he hung onto her every word. She found it hard to focus on what she was saying when he would give her an adorable smile, meeting her eyes, so she would duck her head and nibble her lip, trying to conceal her smile as she would fight to remember exactly what she'd been trying to say in the first place.

When it came way past time to go to bed, they stopped in front of her bedroom door.  
>"If you can't sleep, wake me, okay? I won't mind. I love you!" the princess instructed him.<br>Eugene smiled, despite his dread of being alone and trying to sleep. "Okay. I love you too, sweetie."  
>She ducked her head, slightly embarrassed but still enjoying the new endearment. "I'll see you in the morning."<br>"Yup," he took a deep breath, glancing at his own bedroom door. He didn't want to meet the darkness waiting for him behind that door.  
>She slipped her arms around him, nestling her head against his shoulder. He buried his nose in the girl's choppy hair, giving her a tight squeeze. They remained in the embrace for a couple of minutes before she pulled away, sighing contentedly. "'Night. Sweet dreams!"<br>He chuckled, watching her open her door. He hadn't heard the 'sweet dreams' thing in years, and thought it amusing that it was making a comeback when he was a man in his twenties. "Good night. Sweet dreams to you too, precious girl."  
>Rapunzel's breath caught. Gothel had always called her 'my precious girl'. Yet, the gentleness in which he'd said the endearment -and he actually <em>did <em>mean it as an endearment - sent a warm feeling spreading through her body and a tingle up her spine. She flashed him a smile before closing her door.


	19. Chapter 19: On Orphanages and Princes

A week after Eugene's return, Rapunzel asked if he wanted to accompany her to the orphanage. He agreed, of course - they'd practically been joined at the hip since his return. Plus, he was a tad bit eager to see the old place again. He found it ironic - when he was a child, he'd hated the place. Now he was curious to see how it had held up; how much of it was still the same.

They were greeted by a crowd of delighted children. One little boy exclaimed, "I thought a dragon had snatched you away and a Prince Charming would have to save you!"  
>Rapunzel laughed, kneeling to give the dimpled boy a hug. "I'm sorry, darlings. I hope I can make it up to you with some reading?"<br>Ignoring the promise of a story, they all looked up...up...up at Eugene.  
>"Who's that?"<br>"Who're you?"  
>"Are you a prince?"<br>"Is he your Prince Charming?"  
>Everyone started questioning Rapunzel and her mystery companion.<br>"No, silly, he _has _to be Flynn Rider!" a young girl, who simply adored the book, exclaimed. Eugene chuckled. "So, I'm a swashbuckling rogue, you think?"  
>Her blue eyes widened. "You've read it, too?"<br>"It's only my favorite book," he grinned at the girl's excitement.  
>He and the princess sat, letting the children crowd around them. They took turns reading sections of <em>The Tales of Flynnigan Rider <em>to the kids, and Rapunzel wished she had the storytelling skills that the young man did. He made each sentence sound intense, packed with action and emotion, and she herself felt as if she was actually in the book when he read from it. She'd have to ask him for tips.

After they had each read for an hour, the children were called to eat their lunch. While they were preoccupied fighting over who got the red and who got the green apples for snacks, Rapunzel helped with the five babies, holding and talking to them as the energetic woman, Claire, exchanged their dirty linen bedding for clean.  
>Eugene watched from a distance as the girl he adored cuddled a particularly fussy baby. It couldn't have been three months old, and was wailing and kicking its legs. She soothed its whimpers in no time with quiet coos and stroking its little cheek with a finger. Glancing up, she caught Eugene's affectionate gaze, mistook it, and strode over with a smile, letting him see the baby.<br>"She's a dear, isn't she?" she asked, grinning at the baby when she grabbed the princess's forefinger and stuffed it in her mouth, sucking at it.  
>Eugene peeked at the baby's face, which was still red from crying, and nodded, proceeding to make a face silly enough to make the baby smile.<br>Claire suddenly strode over, depositing a bundle into Eugene's arms and instructing him to hold it until she was done with the child's bed. In the same breath, she led Rapunzel off, thanking her for the help.

Rapunzel settled the baby into its crib with a twinge of regret, wishing she could hold her _forever_. When she managed to pull her gaze away from the child, she turned to see if Eugene was still holding the baby boy Claire had plopped into his arms. The tall, seemingly tough man was making faces at the baby, scrunching his nose up and grinning when the baby's chubby hand grabbed at the tip of his nose. The baby giggled, but turned and reached out for Claire as soon as he saw her coming with a feeding-bottle.

When they left the orphanage a little later, Eugene slung his arm around the princess's slim shoulders. "So...you're a natural with kids, Blondie."  
>She grinned. "You are, too."<br>"Well, that's because I spent my childhood taking care of the younger kids at the orphanage. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until today."  
>She nibbled her lip, trying to hide a smile. "Your skills will come in handy when we're parents."<br>He almost froze in his tracks with surprise. "Hmm...yes, it will." Snagging her hand impulsively, he twirled her around quickly and just as quickly, he pulled her back to his side. She threw her head back, letting a laugh escape her slim, white throat.  
>"What's that all about?"<br>"Anything to make you laugh, gorgeous. When will we go back to the orphanage?"  
>She giggled. "Soon! <em>Very <em>soon. I love helping them out."  
>"Mmhm. I think the kids like it, too. Actually, I <em>know <em>they do. Good grief, I thought we were going to get knocked over by the swarm of kids that appeared as soon as they saw you!"  
>She nodded, grinning at the children's enthusiasm. "I feel bad for not going for the past few weeks. You'll have to teach me how to read a storybook, though. The way you read it is just...just <em>thrilling<em>!"  
>He chuckled. "You just add emphasis. It's easier for me to get into reading that book, though, because I've had plenty of time to memorize it and I really like it."<br>She hid a smile. "I can see why." She had to admit that she too had fallen in love with the book.  
>He gave her a surprised glance. "How many times have you read it?"<br>"Three times on my own; about twice from cover-to-cover for the kids at the orphanage," she said.  
>He grinned teasingly, despite the fact that he was ecstatic about this new development. "So...what's your favorite part?"<br>As she started on her favorite part of the book - or several favorite parts - he watched her, his grin spreading into a full-fledged smile. He couldn't wait to propose to this girl; all he needed now was the right time and the right speech.


	20. Chapter 20: She Finally Said Yes

Two weeks after Eugene's return home, he decided it was time to ask her.  
>It was mid-December, and despite the chilly temperatures and snow, he went to find Rapunzel. She was in her painting-room, working diligently at something.<br>He leaned against the door frame for a moment. She hadn't even heard the door open, she was so focused on her painting. She leaned forward towards the canvas, her tongue poking from the corner of her mouth as she flicked the brush against the canvas with amazing gentleness, and, he was sure, precision.

She sat back, obviously pleased with her accomplishment, but then let her eyes focus on the door, which she had just noticed was ajar.  
>"Oh! How long have you been standing there? You know you could've come in," she jumped up out of her seat, hurriedly putting her paints and brushes away. "What's up?"<br>He strode over, watching as she grabbed a dirty cloth, rubbing firmly at the stiff bristles of her brushes until they were mostly clean.  
>"I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk…?" his voice tilted up at the end of the sentence, turning it into a question.<br>She glanced up at him, a goofy, excited grin spreading across her face. "Of course, Eugene!" The man offered his hand out to the young lady, and she took it, smiling as she stood. "Let's go!"  
>He laughed. "You should tell your parents first. They'll kill me if we just go for a walk without notifying them first."<br>She shook her head. "They won't, but you're right."  
>"They won't, but I'm right? What's that even mean?" he teased.<br>Swatting his arm gently, she rolled her eyes. "They won't kill you, but you're right that I should tell them."

About fifteen minutes later, they were bundled up and headed for their old favorite trail. Rapunzel took in the sights. She hadn't gone for a walk down this trail since before Eugene had left, and this trail was simply gorgeous in the winter. Snow powdered the bare tree branches, making even the most ugly, barren bark pretty once more. The powdery, white fluff clung to and dissolved on the hem of her thick purple cloak, and she folded her arms, tucking her cold fingers inside of her cloak to warm them up.  
>Eugene watched Rapunzel take in the sights. Her already rosy cheeks turned red, as did her nose, and the smile that graced her face was dazzling, breathtaking, intoxicating; in his mind, he couldn't decide on just one word to describe it. It was the same smile she had worn when she had first glimpsed the thousands of lanterns floating in the sky on her eighteenth birthday. When the girl shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and shivered in response to a bit of wind that had recently picked up, he pulled the knit cap off of his head, plopping it down on her short brown locks. She tore her gaze away from the scenery and looked up at him, peeking out from beneath the too-large hat's edge.<br>"What?"  
>"Your ears are cold."<br>She grinned, her face turning slightly redder. "Thanks, but-"  
>"But nothing," he grinned, kissing the tip of her nose.<br>"Isn't the forest beautiful?" she asked, swiftly turning her attention back to the trees.  
>He suppressed a laugh. She was able to switch from one thing to the next just like that. "Yes, it's pretty."<br>"I just love how the snow clings to the branches on those trees," she pointed. "And the little drifts of snow here and there! It looks like someone sprinkled sugar all over the place."  
>He nodded, paying attention to everything she said. It amazed him how she could see beauty in everything, and in every<em>one<em>. He'd never understand it.  
>Stuffing his cold hands in his pockets, his fingers grazed against a metal band. He'd spent several nights staring at it; when he'd have insomnia or nightmares, he would distract himself by trying to think of the perfect speech.<br>He took a deep breath, but didn't say anything.  
>"…Right?"<br>"Hm?" he cleared his throat, refocusing his attention on her. "Sorry." he grinned sheepishly at her.  
>She grinned, wondering what he was so preoccupied about. "I just said that it's funny how such a cold, miserable thing could be so pretty."<br>He nodded, chuckling. "Yep."

They reached the familiar big oak, and she sighed happily, swinging her arms as she looked every which way. He stopped at the tree, but she went to the edge of the clearing, going to study a low-hanging branch. She immediately wanted to paint the tree: its cold, gray branches swooped delicately towards the ground before arching back upwards, and each held a layer of snow. She studied a few individual snowflakes that fell on a part of the branch that was uncovered, marveling at how each one was different and beautiful in its own, unique way. Finally, she looked back at Eugene, giving him the most stunning smile.  
>She ran back to the tree, tackling him into a hug.<br>He laughed, putting his arms around her slim waist and pulling her close. When she pulled away, he gave her a grin. "What was that for?"  
>"Thank you!" she laughed as if it were so obvious. "Thank you for coming on a walk with me."<br>"T'was my pleasure, m'lady," he said teasingly, and she smiled before pulling away, slipping her cool hand comfortably into his.  
>She sighed happily, still looking around and enjoying the crisp air, and he took a deep breath, gulping.<br>He watched her a moment before opening his mouth and asking tentatively: "So…Rapunzel?"  
>"Yes?" she asked, turning to give him her attention. Her large green eyes studied his handsome face, and her full attention only made it that much harder for him to spit it out. He'd asked her before, how could it possibly be hard by now? Fear of rejection once more?<br>"I…I was just wondering, you know, um…I-If…if you would…what you'd say if I'd ask you to marry me," he finally managed. "You're driving me crazy. I've loved you almost since the day we met, and you'd make me just about the happiest guy in this kingdom if you'd marry me. Heck, I might revise that sentence, because you make me the happiest guy in this kingdom every time you _look_ at me. Especially when you smile. And since I can't wait to start spinning new dreams with you, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask you again."  
>Her breath caught in her throat, and she met his brown eyes. Her heart thundered with excitement, not panic. She'd been waiting for this moment. "Yes," she whispered.<br>"What?" his eyes widened. Had he heard her right?!  
>"I would say yes, Eugene," she smiled shyly, and he immediately crammed his hand into his pocket, fishing the ring out and holding it out to her with a shaky hand as he plopped one knee down into the snow.<br>"Then…would you? Would you marry me?"

She laughed. "Yes, Eugene…yes; of course I'll marry you!"  
>He grinned, taking her hand and slipping the ring on the slim finger of her left hand. It took a couple of moments for it to sink in, but then Rapunzel grabbed him into a hug before he could even stand up. The man she'd thought dead just over a month ago was officially going to be her husband. Eugene smiled and buried his nose into her hair, sighing as he held her close - albeit awkwardly. "I love you," he whispered.<br>He pulled away just long enough to stand up, pulling her up with him.  
>"Love you too," she said before he could envelope her in another hug. Grinning, she reached out for his scarf ends, tugging on them and bouncing up on her toes to kiss him. The warm, special kiss they shared warmed both of them from the inside out, and when she pulled away breathlessly, her eyes glittered with excitement. Eugene's did as well. She slipped back into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder and drinking in his scent. But Eugene pulled away, meeting her eyes to ask her something.<br>"What changed? I mean…this isn't a decision based purely on the fact that I'm home from the war, is it?" he asked.  
>"No," she shook her head, but then reconsidered. "Well…I don't know. When you were gone…and when I thought you were, you know, dead…it just made me think. I've been telling you no because I have so many things to experience yet; things to see that I've never seen before, but then I realized something. You've been by my side for everything. You were the one who made my only dream come true when I was eighteen, for goodness' sake! I can still go on adventures and learn things when I'm married."<br>He nodded, leaning his forehead against hers. She felt his warm breath puff against her face, a stark contrast to the chilly air surrounding them and the snowflakes pecking at the back of her neck. "I'll be more than happy to accompany you on all the adventures you wish to go on," he brushed his lips against hers before straightening, smiling at her.  
>She grinned and slipped her small hand into his larger one. "Then... let's go see what's past the clearing. We haven't been past here in almost a year!"<br>"That sounds good to me. But we'll head back soon; I don't want you getting sick."  
>With that, the ex-thief soldier and the lost princess left the clearing, hand-in-hand with stars in their eyes, snowflakes in their hair, and happy smiles across their faces.<p> 


	21. Chapter 21:Love You For a Thousand Years

**A/N: Thanks once again for all the favorites/follows/reviews, everyone! I appreciate it all, truly I do!  
>Title was inspired by "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. I love that song!<br>**

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><p>Rapunzel took a deep breath, watching the group of ladies buzzing around her. She was up on a stool, the women carefully placing the crown and veil atop her head. Another woman handed her the bouquet of lilies. She took a deep, shaky breath and stared at herself in the mirror in front of her.<br>The women stepped back, admiring their work. The princess was ready for her wedding. The Queen entered the room, and they quickly bowed out, giving them a private moment together.  
>She gasped, hurrying over to help Rapunzel from her stool and immediately hugging her - carefully enough to not mess up her veil.<br>"Oh, my dear girl...you're so beautiful. _So _beautiful."  
>Rapunzel smiled nervously. "Thank you." she glanced down at her dress, which was all white except for a pale purple section going down the center of the dress. Her wedding dress was not flamboyant or huge; she'd wanted a simple dress. Tiny swirls trailed down either side of the purple section, and the bodice was held tightly in place, the corset strings in the back. Pale gold swirls that matched the ones on the skirt went over the center of her bodice, and lace adorned her neckline and short sleeves. The incredibly long veil - seventy feet long - was behind her in a gently-folded mass, waiting to be carried to the entrance of the church sanctuary. The plain white veil was adorned with delicate, precious gems, with a kingdom sun patterned onto it.<br>"Are you nervous?"  
>She nodded, nibbling her lip. She just wanted to get it over with already! And what if something happened? What if the ceremony went terribly wrong? What if-<br>"Oh, sweetheart. Don't be scared! Everything will go well, and this time tomorrow, you'll be a married woman. I know how jittery the final minutes are before the ceremony, but don't fret." Her mother tucked a stray brown hair out of the girl's eyes, studying her daughter's freckled face. Had it been just two years since their precious daughter had been returned? Her eyes teared up, and Rapunzel pulled her mother into a hug. "My little girl's getting married."  
>She smiled, pulling away to meet her mother's eyes. "Mother, I'll still be in the castle. Unless you plan on kicking us out?"<br>The Queen laughed gently. "Definitely not. We'll be keeping you both around."  
>Rapunzel grinned. "Good."<br>A loud bell donged from outside, and she gasped. "It's time, sweetheart! We need to get you out there!"  
>Rapunzel sucked in a deep breath - if she kept doing so, she might pass out - and scooped her veil up, following her mother out of the door. Pausing, she glanced down mischievously and kicked out of her painful high-heeled shoes before padding after her mother. <em>Much better. <em>

They stopped at the church sanctuary just in time to see Maximus and Pascal successfully make it down the aisle - as ring-bearer and flower...chameleon..., respectively.  
>Rapunzel turned to hug her mother one more time, and her father took her arm as a couple of women unrolled her long veil.<br>"You look beautiful, darling," he whispered, his eyes crinkling with a fatherly smile as he looked down at his darling girl.  
>"Thank you, father," she smiled. "I love you!"<br>He chuckled. "I love you, too."  
>Hook-Hand - yes, she had requested he play the piano at the wedding. No, she did not regret a thing - twisted in his seat, grinning when he saw her. Throwing an axe at their accordion-playing slave to get his attention, he started gaily pounding out the wedding march on the piano to accompany the accordion player.<br>Rapunzel sucked in a deep breath, finally allowing her eyes to travel up the aisle and look at Eugene.

Eugene's eyes met hers. He was incredibly nervous. He'd never imagined himself getting married, let alone to a _princess_. He had had his own reservations about the commitment of marriage, although he knew no other woman would ever hold his heart. That tiny, brunette girl had stolen his heart and not returned it.  
>He straightened his shoulders in the stiff shirt he wore, clasping his hands in front of him to try to calm their shaking. But then he saw the girl - <em>his <em>girl, soon to be.  
>"Wow," the <em>bishop <em>commented.  
>Eugene could hardly catch his breath, but once he had, he repeated the comment.<br>"_Wooow._"  
>Snapping out of his thoughts, which were all centered around the girl making her way up the aisle, he glanced down to his side and saw the old pub thug, Shorty...drunk as usual. Smirking at the old man, who never failed to be drunk at a public event, he shoved him away from the stage.<br>Refocusing his attention back to Rapunzel, he caught a glimpse of her bare toes - and tried to conceal a grin. Of course she would have figured out how to get out of those shoes before the ceremony. Good - he was glad she'd managed it. She'd been pretty disgusted about the concept of wearing shoes.

When Rapunzel arrived in front of the steps, her father let go of her, kissing her cheek and giving her a hug before going to the church pew to sit with Rapunzel's mother. She gave Eugene an excited smile, and they both took deep breaths, calming their nervousness.


	22. Chapter 22: On Nightmares and the Future

Rapunzel woke up abruptly when she felt a foot plant into her back and nearly launch her out of bed. With a gasp, she scrambled to stay in bed. When she finally did, she sat up and looked at Eugene. He was curled in a tight ball, whimpering and muttering to himself in his sleep.  
>"Hey...wake up. It's a nightmare, wake up," Rapunzel leaned over him, jostling his shoulder to wake him.<br>He jerked awake, his breath catching in his throat before he could cry out. Glancing at her, he let his breath out with a sigh, rolling onto his back. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"  
>She shook her head. They'd been married for just a few weeks; he still had nightmares about the war. She watched his face, wishing she could somehow take his memories of the war away, even if she had to live with them herself. She just hated watching him suffer through it. "Are you okay?"<br>He sighed. "Same old, same old." Sitting up, he rubbed his face with his hands before scooting out of bed. "I'm going to be in the library."  
>"Wait," Rapunzel snagged his hand. "Talk to me. Please? It might help."<br>He swallowed, watching his wife a moment before giving in, sitting down beside her on the bed. "Like I said, it's the same as always."  
>"Well, which one? You usually either dream about someone you love getting killed or your escape from prison."<br>He shook his head. "Does it matter?"  
>Rapunzel nibbled her lip. "Well, it makes me feel better to know what's going on in that brain of yours."<br>The young man shook his head. "It was the one where you get captured, tortured, and killed, if you have to know. I'm so sick of this!"  
>She slid her thin arms around him. "I know, bud. But you haven't been having them quite as often, have you?"<br>"I guess not, but who's been keeping tally of when I have nightmares versus when I don't?"  
>"Um, maybe your wife, who's been worried about you since you came home..?" Rapunzel suggested.<br>He gave her a small grin. "I know."  
>She gave his torso a squeeze, and he put his arms around her in return. Pulling her close, he nuzzled her hair a moment before kissing her cheek. "Sorry I woke you. By the way, I know I probably did - you usually sleep soundly unless you're woken up."<br>She tsked her tongue. "Alright, Observant One." she rolled an eye up to see if he found amusement in her teasing; he rolled his eyes with a grin. Soon, however, it faded.  
>"I can't be a good father if I'm so afflicted with these stupid nightmares..."<br>"Well, you don't have to worry about it right this instant. You'll make a fine father when the time comes, and you're already getting less nightmares than you did in December," she told him. It had been about four months since his return. "We've only been married three weeks, remember - I'm not with child yet. Worry about being a father when the time comes. Until then, worry about getting over your nightmares. 'Kay?"

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I know. But I've gotta think about the future too. And I've been a _mess _trying to work at the woodshop because I can't sleep."  
>She rubbed his back with empathy. "Maybe you could take some time off. I'm sure Mr. Joel would understand - he's a veteran himself, isn't he?"<br>"Yes, and I've talked to him. He said the work would tire me out, help me sleep better...but it hasn't."  
>The princess bit her lip, trying to wrack her mind for ideas to help her husband. "Sorry."<br>"Hey," he nudged her with his elbow. "Don't start worrying. I know that look too, by the way."  
>She tsked her tongue again. "I can worry if I want to!"<br>"_Can _you?" he asked.  
>"Yes," she teased. "But I'll offer you a deal."<br>"Yeah?" he might have abandoned his status as thief about two years ago for her, but he still perked up at the mention of a 'deal'.  
>"You stop worrying about the future and about your nightmares, and I'll stop worrying about <em>you!<em>"  
>"That's impossible," he tried to act insulted, playing along.<br>"Is it?" she threw back, turning the tables.  
>They exchanged a few more teasing sentences before he flopped on his back, rubbing his eyes and chuckling. "I don't know what I'd do without you."<br>"You'd be roaming the streets and might not have been roped into going to the war," she pointed out quietly, the thought never occurring to her until that point.  
>"Well, I guess that's a small price I had to pay, then. C'mere." he reached his arms out for her, pulling her snug up against his side and letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "You need to teach me how to be more optimistic, like you."<br>"That's impossible. You're a pessimist and unteachable," she grinned, cuddling up against him.  
>"Ah, so you're going to play <em>that <em>card, hm? Fine, then. Meanie," he joked, and she swatted his arm gently, trying to hide her grin. She didn't mind staying up at 3AM teasing him - as long as their playful bickering distracted from his nightmares.


	23. Chapter 23:A Thief to a King-in-Training

**A/N: Thanks again, everyone, for the support, follows, favorites, reviews, everything. It means a LOT! (:  
>Suggested in part by silviatangled<br>**

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><p>"It's time you start your training to become the king."<br>That's what Eugene was greeted with on a Sunday morning, just barely a month after he'd married the love of his life and become prince consort.  
>"Huh?" was his very intelligent response.<br>"We'll start after the church service; this afternoon will be fine to begin," the King mused.  
>"Once more...<em>huh<em>?" he glanced towards his wife, who looked as shocked as he felt.  
>"You do understand you've got to undergo some training to one day become king, correct? You're starting this afternoon, and will have lessons after you get back from work each evening."<p>

Tariffs. Budgets. Laws and bylaws, trade deals, country alliances.  
>Greek to Eugene. The King pounded these terms into his head until he thought his head would explode. To boot, he was irritated with his lack of a day off - which was when he spent time with Rapunzel. Sundays were for relaxation and catching up after a busy week - she helping her mother with small tasks and he working at the woodshop during the week -. They were <em>not<em> for learning whatever...buy laws were. Whatever that meant, anyway.  
>Finally, he wandered out of the King's office at ten o'clock Sunday night. Rapunzel - everyone, to be precise, except he and the King - had already gone to bed, but she was waiting up for him, curled up on the bed talking to Pascal. The massive window was cracked open to allow a cool breeze inside, and the gray sheer curtains billowed gently.<br>Eugene faceplanted dramatically in the bed beside Rapunzel, groaning with disgust over the whole training thing.  
>"Your father is an awful teacher," he mumbled into the mattress. "And I have to do this after work tomorrow?"<br>She giggled. "You'll be fine."  
>"This is the story of the day my life end-"<br>"Oh, quit!" she laughed, sitting up and scrubbing her fingers affectionately through the short brown hair covering the back of his head.  
>He rolled over to sit up and get out of bed - and promptly fell out of bed. Darn it, he hadn't realized how close to the edge he was. Today just wasn't his day, he decided. Rapunzel was shaking from her attempt to not laugh, and he gave her a disgusted glance as he stood, cradling his right elbow. Grabbing a pillow, he threw it at her before leaving to change into his night clothes.<br>"Why don't you just quit your job? I mean, I know it's important to you, but you'll be king one day - and that's a _huge_ job!" she asked.  
>He didn't answer her until he had returned, dressed for bed. His face held an unreadable expression as he considered what to say. "It's a long story," he finally said.<br>"Well...give me a summary, then!" she watched him, her large eyes batting with curiosity.  
>He sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "My pa," he started, nibbling his upper lip. Would she understand? "My pa was a good man. He saw my talent with carpentry from early on. Even though he was a fisherman and terrible at working with wood, he always supported me and encouraged me to follow my talent. He always made it fun and never discouraged it, and I was a good help with fixing things around the house. I even got to do some small repair jobs for the neighbors. So when I'm working with wood - I don't know, it makes me feel good. Useful. I'm doing what my pa always told me I should do." he finished, staring at his rough hands a moment before casting a sheepish glance towards Rapunzel. Did she understand?<p>

She smiled, reaching to pull him into a hug. "Okay. You really need to tell me your back story, bud."  
>He rubbed his eyes, which were burning from reading all of those numbers haphazardly scrawled across pages. Or maybe they weren't scrawled haphazardly, since they were official documents, but...they sure looked it. "I know. After my training, hm? Deal?"<br>She tsked her tongue, grinning. "Everything's gotta be a deal with you, doesn't it?"  
>"Well, I <em>was <em>an ex-thief. You knew what you were getting into when you said 'yes'," he teased.  
>"I actually didn't. I don't know your entire back story," the brunette threw back.<br>"Alright, smarty. Touche." he chuckled, tilting her head up to give her a quick kiss.

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><p>The next day, Rapunzel met her husband at the door with a happy kiss and a quick hug, which lifted his mood after a tedious day at work. "Father's waiting. Have fun!" she teased.<br>Well, there went that better mood. "Hm...yeah. Thanks." he rolled his eyes, but grinned. After pulling his boots off and setting them in the armoire at the private entrance of the castle, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before heading to the King's office.  
>"Good afternoon. Glad you didn't try to skip out on lessons," the King chuckled.<br>"Not saying if the thought crossed my mind," Eugene said.  
>He shook his head, smiling in a fatherly manner. "You'll learn quickly, son, don't worry. You already had a crash course with war strategies and procedure, et-cetera, so all you've got to learn is the laws and bylaws, tariffs, and budgeting. You're smart and you already know our enforcement and law systems fairly well..." he trailed off, chuckling again. "So you'll be ready in no time. Now, I want you to take a look at this month's budgeting system and economic..."<br>Eugene took the deceivingly small scroll - which unrolled to spill onto his lap, much to his distaste - and tried to make sense of whatever the princess's father was rattling on about.


	24. Chapter 24: Disappointments

Eugene was more than halfway through his king training, which was going quicker than he had expected, when Rapunzel gave him the news.  
>"Eugene!" Rapunzel yelled, racing and practically throwing herself at the young man who had just walked through the door after a long day at work.<br>He chuckled, catching her and giving her a tight hug, his mood immediately lifting. "What, did you miss me?"  
>She giggled. "I had a visit with the castle doctor today…"<br>His eyebrows rose. "And..?"  
>She stood up on tiptoe to whisper the words they'd both been waiting to hear: "I'm going to have a baby!"<p>

The doctor had warned her to curb her excitement, for reasons unknown to her, but being Rapunzel, she didn't. Her parents and Eugene were nearly as ecstatic as she was; a nursery was immediately created. Eugene started working on a crib in his free time, as opposed to having one of the royal carpenters make it. Rapunzel started painting murals on the walls of the nursery, and her parents shared the news with the kingdom: the princess was expecting a baby. For the second time in about two decades, the kingdom grew excited for the arrival of a new royal baby (the first time had been for Rapunzel's birth.)

The happiness and excitement lasted but a few months. Eugene had just finished his training, thank goodness, and had plans to leave with Rapunzel's father on a quick trip to Denmark next week. It would be his first time away from Rapunzel since the war, but the King said it was necessary to continue the training, so he had accepted. He would later be surprised to know that, after he ended up canceling his plans to go to Denmark, he would wish that he could have gone. Going to Denmark would ultimately mean that Rapunzel was fine and nothing had happened to cause him to have to cancel to stay home. Right after the first trimester and shortly before her twentieth birthday, Rapunzel fell ill. It was seemingly nothing to worry about, so Eugene entrusted her to her parents and the castle nurse to go to work – continuing his work on the crib for the baby.

On impulse, he took a pit stop at Attilla's cupcake shop on his way home from his work, picking up a cupcake just for his wife. He also wanted to tell the thugs about their big news, just in case they hadn't already heard. They were ecstatic. Big-Nose, the thug with a dream of finding the right wife, grinned and took his wife-of-one-year's hand. "She's five months along - when they're born and old enough, we'll have to arrange playdates." The shy brunette giggled, peeking up at her husband with her brown eyes shining in a similar way that Rapunzel's did every time she spoke of their own future child.

When he came home to the castle that evening, pleased to tell Rapunzel that the crib – engraved delicately in the same simple style that she had painted the room – was finally done, the Queen met him at the private entrance.  
>"Good evening," he welcomed her, turning away to kick his boots off and stick them in the armoire, cupcake still in his hand. "How's Rapunzel?"<br>When the Queen didn't respond, he turned to look at her, concern instantly filling every bit of his body. "She had a miscarriage today. When the nurse was tending to her, she said it unwise to attempt bearing any more children. It's–"  
>Eugene immediately broke her off before she could continue. "Where is she?"<br>"I already told James to cancel the trip to Denmark. She's locked in her room. She hasn't eaten all day, and will not let anyone in." she said, her distress now very apparent in how she wrung her hands.  
>With that, Eugene rushed for the hallway leading to their room. He felt terrible – he should have stayed home with her; should have been there for her. When he got to the bedroom door, he tried the knob. Still locked.<br>He knocked on the door. A muffled cry pleading 'whoever it was at the door to let her be for now' came from the room. Sighing, he went to the armoire and retrieved two hair pins. If he couldn't pick the lock, he'd go outside and climb in through the window.  
>Luckily, the door pushed open after a bit of fiddling with the lock. Rapunzel flew upright in bed, her eyes surprised. Her hair was messy; the neckline of her simple, loose dress off-center, and dark rings encircled her puffy, red eyes. Her nose and cheeks were red, a stark contrast to the rest of her face, which was pale. "H-how did you…"<br>"Perks of being an ex-thief," he pocketed the hair pins–in case he needed them later – and strode over to the bed, setting the cupcake on the stand beside it.  
>She sighed. She couldn't even bring herself to tell her husband what had happened today.<br>"Your mother told me what happened today. I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he couldn't stand the despairing expression she gave him. Sitting down beside her, he tried to put an arm around her, but she pulled away.  
>"Don't,"<br>"What?" he asked, confused. Was she mad because he hadn't been there for her today?  
>"I-I'm worthless! The nurse told me I wouldn't be able to successfully have a baby. I let my parents down, a-and the entire <em>kingdom<em>…I let you down," she whispered the last part. "I-I can't have children."  
>Eugene reached to stroke her hair, ignoring the fact that she tried to avoid his touch. She somehow blamed herself for the miscarriage, found herself useless, and didn't feel like she deserved comfort. "Hey. We'll figure things out. The doctor said something might go wrong, so it's not your fault. A lot of women go through things like this."<br>"How would you know?" she asked sharply.  
>"My mother," he said quietly. "Only she died from the complications."<br>She sucked in a deep breath, immediately feeling worse. "I-I'm so sorry-"  
>"It's okay. But don't blame yourself, alright?" he reached to pull her to his side, and she finally relaxed up against him. The metaphorical dam broke, and she buried her face into his vest, sobbing harshly and elaborating on every single upsetting thought she'd held in all day. Eugene would never let her know it, but he cried with her – between seeing his wife in such a state and knowing that they likely wouldn't have kids tore him up pretty badly. He held her as close as possible, letting her cry and when she finally shouted out of anger towards herself, he shook his head when her parents appeared at the door, letting them know he could take care of her.<br>About an hour later, neither of them had a tear left in either of them. When Rapunzel finally met his eyes with her own swollen ones, he promptly wiped her cheeks with his thumbs.  
>"It'll be okay," he said, his voice thick with emotion.<br>"I know," she cleared her throat and took a deep, shuddering breath, staring down at her lap with a dull expression.  
>He heard a gentle tap on the door, followed by "Dinner," so he stood out of bed.<br>"C'mon," he nodded his head towards the door, but she shook her head, her hand resting on her stomach. "Huh-uh. You've got to eat, sweetheart."  
>"If I eat, I'm scared I'll throw up. I'm too u-upset."<br>"You have to try, though. If it doesn't make you feel good, you can stop. Okay?" She gave him a mild frown, but when he held his hands out to her, she took them and shakily stood up anyway. "That's my girl."  
>He promptly pulled her into another hug before straightening the neckline of her dress. She ran her brush through her hair and then silently went for the door. Eugene opened it for her, and they walked silently through the castle, headed for the dining hall.<br>Her parents stood to greet her, but she couldn't even muster up a small smile in return. Her eyes watered once more, and her parents quickly moved to hug her.  
>"I had the chefs make hazelnut soup for you, darling. How are you feeling?" her mother asked as soon as she had pulled away.<br>"Thank you," she said quietly, although she looked completely disinterested in the bowl set in front of her chair at the table. "I'm feeling okay."  
>She sat, fiddling with the spoon in her bowl more so than actually eating. Eugene slipped his hand under the table and found hers, giving it a squeeze. Her parents talked – but as soon as the Queen tried to say something about the miscarriage, Rapunzel stood up and left the room. She couldn't bear the thought of sitting through some speech about how it was normal. She felt like it wasn't, and she knew that she wouldn't provide a child for her family – she wouldn't <em>have <em>a family of her own! She wondered how she could give the announcement to her entire kingdom. She could hardly even see that she'd eventually feel less heartbroken about it. How could she even be so upset about a baby she had never even held in her arms, anyway? All she knew was that she couldn't stand herself.


	25. Chapter 25: Adoption (Part 1)

A month passed, and Rapunzel was slowly turning back into her normal self. That was when the Queen finally spoke to her, when they were both working out in the garden during a nice July afternoon.  
>"Darling girl, what you went through was normal. It was almost to be expected, but it never even crossed my mind to tell you until it was too late."<br>"What?" the princess turned her attention away from the small flowers she was planting in a terracotta pot. She studied her mother with a guarded curiosity.  
>"The inability to have children," she said quietly, "along with complications and miscarriages, is common in my side of the family. My grandmother only had one boy and one girl. Her mother only had two children, dying when she had the third. My own mother struggled with two miscarriages before she gave up on having any more children aside from me. Your great-great-aunt was unable to have any at all. You were a miracle – we were almost ready to give up on a family when I got the news that I was pregnant. I faced complications shortly before your birth, and almost died – that's why we went in search for the golden flower. The same flower that gave you your healing powers," she said. "It's due to our inherent small stature. All of the women on my side of the family are small all over, like you and I. Some aren't strong enough, some simply can't handle the stress of carrying the baby, and some die due to complications, if they haven't miscarried. "<br>Rapunzel bit her lip. "So it's kind of a family issue?"  
>"Yes," she nodded. "I wanted to tell you after your miscarriage, but you never wanted to hear anything of it –understandably so."<br>"I'm sorry," she turned back to the plant, patting dirt gently around the base of it.  
>"It's alright, dear. I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone, and that it was…almost to be expected. I'm sorry it slipped my mind until it was too late to warn you."<br>The princess shook her head. "It's okay. I would have wanted to try having a baby anyway. I…I just feel so useless. The kingdom won't have an heir, and Eugene…well, we both wanted kids."  
>The Queen nodded and fell silent for a few minutes. When she spoke up again, she spoke slowly and quietly. "Well, there's always adoption."<br>Rapunzel's head flew up, and she looked at her mother. "But would the child be accepted? Would it be able to one day run the kingdom? I mean...I don't care either way and we might want to adopt anyway, but I don't want a child to grow up as a prince or princess, only to be told that it cannot run the kingdom due to some silly rule."  
>"Darling, you broke tradition and married a common thief. I'm sure there's a loophole."<br>Her face brightened. "I'll talk with Eugene about it tonight!"  
>The Queen smiled, happy to see a glimpse of her daughter's former enthusiasm back. Brushing the dirt off of her hands (and dirtying her skirt), she reached to pull her daughter into an awkward hug.<p>

That evening, Rapunzel practically bowled Eugene over the second he walked through the door to the castle.  
>He laughed, wrapping her up in a tight hug. "Hey, beautiful. It's good to see you're in a cheerful mood today!"<br>She gave him a quick hug, but wormed away from him. Her eyes were hopeful. "Mother was talking with me today, and…well, among a lot of other things, she suggested that we adopt a child. She said it would be acceptable."  
>Eugene's eyebrows flew up. "Is that so? And are you sure that's the route you want to go?"<br>"It might be the safest route if we want kids," she said, before explaining the rest of what her mother had told her today.  
>When she finished, Eugene nodded. "Well, it'd take time, I'm sure – but it would be fine by me to adopt. Especially if I get to give an orphan the ultimate thing I had never received as a kid – a home."<br>She nodded, smiling. Her heart was thundering with excitement for the first time in a long while. "We could talk with the orphanage director tomorrow, maybe, and-"  
>"You mean you're ready to move on?"<br>She paused. "Are you?"  
>"I'm more worried about you. I took it hard, but I've accepted it. You took it harder than I did because you thought something was wrong with you and you thought it was your fault."<br>She nodded, licking her lips. "I don't think I'll ever quite be fine with the miscarriage, but I also know that moving forward will make me think of it less."  
>He nodded, slipping his arms around her waist. "Then if you want to go talk to the orphanage director tomorrow, who would I be to say no?"<br>"A rational human being, maybe," Rapunzel said, half-teasing.  
>Eugene grinned. "It's so good to see you happy again – just so you know."<br>With that, he bent to give her a quick, sound kiss before leading her to the parlor, where her parents were sitting and waiting for the girl to update them on their plan.


	26. Chapter 26: A Little Girl (Part 2)

The next morning, Rapunzel and Eugene got up early. As soon as they ate breakfast, they headed out for the orphanage as quickly as they could.

When they got there, they were greeted – bombarded may be a better term – by babies crying, children screaming, laughing, and fighting. They all paused to greet the princess and her husband, and then the crazed mob came _towards_ them, begging for a story.  
>Or two.<br>Or three!  
>Laughing, Rapunzel couldn't help but give in to the children's requests, scooping up a little girl that had clung to her plain green skirt with sticky fingers.<br>With the child on her hip, she hurried to grab an apron that the young maid, Claire, offered her. She'd grown accustomed to wearing it: it kept her dress safe from stains when she did cleaning or cooking for the children. Next, she sat the child down beside her and allowed them to crowd around her and Eugene. They made up a story and told it together, much to the children's delight. Getting sidetracked, they played with the mob of children until it was time for their lunch, which Claire had been busy preparing.  
>When the children dispersed for lunch, they headed for the orphanage office, which they had never before entered.<p>

A stout woman heaved herself from her chair; curtsying hurriedly as she saw the princess and prince consort enter.  
>"Good morning, your highnesses," she said, clearing her throat. "What brings you?"<br>"Oh, don't be so formal. I come here quite often to read to the children and help out; I'm not an uppity princess-type," Rapunzel laughed quietly, gesturing to her simple dress and the orphanage's apron that covered the front of it. "We're actually here to discuss adopting a child."  
>"I thought you were pregnant," the woman stared at her, her pale eyes dropping immediately to the princess's waist.<br>Rapunzel bit her lip, her hand instinctively moving to press against her stomach as she thought of the baby. "I miscarried. The nurses said it might be dangerous to try again, due to a family history on my mother's side." She said it quietly, and the woman's eyes widened.  
>"I didn't hear. Apologies for your loss, deary," the woman said gruffly.<br>Eugene glanced at his wife, immediately reaching to take the hand she still held to her stomach and breaking her out of her thoughts. She sucked in a deep breath and glanced up at him, offering a small smile.  
>"Anyway," Eugene continued. "We were considering adoption."<br>The woman stared at Eugene, narrowing her eyes. "You used to live here, didn't ya? A young lad at that time, though."  
>He chuckled, wondering how it could have taken the woman that long to figure it out. "Yep. You probably remember me because-"<br>"You were always getting sent to my office for discipline because you wouldn't heed bedtimes and always tried to run away. You always had a book in your hands, too."  
>He nodded. "Yeah…I still read that one book."<br>"You're a grown man!" she laughed. "That's a child's book."  
>"Well, I'll be reading it to our kids sometime, so I'll have an excuse. Willing that we can adopt, of course," Eugene tried to steer the conversation back to why they had come. Mrs. Brigsly had a hard time paying attention. He'd used that to his advantage quite a bit when he was younger.<p>

"Oh, yes. Of course. Well, you'll have it relatively easy to adopt because of your status. Since you've done work here a lot and you're, of course, the royal family, we'll pardon you to a certain degree – we know you are both caring and gentle. We'll still have to submit your request in to the Court of Law, of course. Procedure's procedure, y'know? But that's about it."  
>Eugene <em>did <em>know. More than he probably wanted to know, having had to go through the schooling to become king - therefore needing to memorize every. Single. Law.  
>They both agreed, and the woman bustled over to her desk, pulling out a thick book. Flipping it over to a certain section, she read them aloud to Eugene and Rapunzel. All of the reading was information regarding how the adoption request would be handled, and how unbiased 'professionals' would deem whether or not they were acceptable parents. Of course, they knew they would pass this; even with Eugene's now-clean record, they had never committed any form of abuse or violence. It would take simply twenty-four hours to submit the formal request; there were no other requests at this time to review, so theirs would be received and reviewed quickly.<br>"And then you've just gotta wait for the right child to come along, my dears," she finished.  
>Rapunzel nodded, nibbling her lip. The woman scrawled something on a blank piece of paper, prompting them both to sign at the bottom of the page, handing the feather pen over.<p>

As Eugene was sloppily writing his signature, a man burst into the office, a wailing bundle held firmly in his arms.  
>"You the director o' this place?" he asked Mrs. Brigsly, disregarding the princess he'd nearly knocked over as he pushed forward to the desk.<br>"Yes. And you are..?"  
>"Jamison. This is my newborn. Want to drop her off here."<br>"We're full up," she shook her head. "And why would you want to drop her off here?"  
>"She killed m'girl," he looked down at the baby, who was crying with increasing intensity. Finally, he noticed Rapunzel and Eugene and held the bundle out abruptly, nearly dropping the child into Rapunzel's arms. "Take the wretched thing, servant!"<br>Eugene drew himself to his full height, not caring that the man didn't know of their royal status but more upset because he'd called his wife a servant.  
>Rapunzel touched his arm to let him know not to get too irked, and looked down at the baby in her arms.<br>"What happened, and how did a newborn kill your wife?"  
>"She had compl'cations, died. If you don't take it, I'll throw it in th' river."<br>Rapunzel bit back a gasp. How could someone drown their newborn child, even if it had been the cause of complications that killed your wife?  
>"Rapunzel, Eugene - please step outside of the room, please. Take that baby with you," Mrs. Brigsly shook her head when Rapunzel tried to hand the screaming baby to the plump woman.<p>

Rapunzel seemed slightly overwhelmed by the crying baby, especially because she had just found a stain of dried blood on the blanket.  
>"He didn't wrap it in anything except for what he used to swaddle it when it was born, likely," Eugene told her, holding his hands out. "Want me to take it?"<br>Rapunzel gently moved the baby into his arms and studied the screaming child. "How old do you think it is?"  
>"Oh, geez, Rapunzel - probably only a few hours," he looked around the room. "Can you find a clean linen and - maybe dampen a cloth for me? I don't think he took the time to even clean it off very well. Probably didn't know <em>how <em>to, he seemed borderline drunk."  
>Rapunzel nodded, hurrying off to get the things Eugene had requested. Claire was busy cleaning up after lunch, so she had to find and get them herself, which didn't take too long. She watched as he very carefully dabbed at the baby's fingers and toes; behind its ears and through its shock of dark hair. Finally, he gently and expertly wrapped the baby tightly in the clean linen and cradled it, trying to soothe its continued, loud sobs. Rapunzel peered at the baby, talking quietly to it as Eugene held it. She could hear the man, Jamison, shouting in the office, and grimaced. The baby grabbed her fingers, holding one firmly in its tiny fist, and finally, its cries subsided.<p>

"What'll happen to the baby?" she finally asked quietly, glancing up at Eugene.  
>He sighed. "They'll nurse it with a feeding bottle and goat's milk, probably. That's what they did with a couple of babies that came in as newborns. Both of them came because their mothers were too young, they were born out of wedlock, and they didn't want to deal with them. They passed away, though. Too weak, and they didn't get enough attention because everyone was too busy with the other kids."<br>Rapunzel sucked in a deep breath. "Oh…" She glanced back at the baby, who had fallen asleep sucking a corner of the linen. Its eyes were squeezed shut, and a few strands of dark hair poked from the blanket.  
>Mrs. Brigsly bustled back into the office, followed by a red-faced Jamison. The man pushed past them without a single glance towards them or his baby. Mrs. Brigsley plucked the baby quickly from Eugene's arms, leaving to put it in a cradle with the other children. Rapunzel could hear its cries echoing back to them, having been woken, and something twisted inside of her. When she - Mrs. Brigsly - returned, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Now, we'll get that form sent in – a guard is coming today to collect this week's request forms, so you're in luck. Of course, as I said, yours is the only request for the week. As soon as that's approved, you're clear. That'll take less than twenty-four hours, and you will be notified at the castle. Now, what type of child are you wanting? Age and gender, obviously."<br>Eugene looked at Rapunzel. They had never considered those factors.  
>"Well…ah…I don't have any preferences, really, but I think it'd be really nice to have a baby around."<br>Eugene agreed, and Mrs. Brigsly laughed in a sad tone. "Well, you've met one of the babies up for adoption already. We won't give the option to adopt the child to the girl's parents. Her father beat her before they disowned and kicked her out of their cottage, so they would be deemed unfit, even if they would want the baby. Assuming they won't, though. The baby was actually born out of wedlock, all of which Jamison stated after you left," she said.  
>With that, they exchanged pleasantries and left.<p>

* * *

><p>That night, Rapunzel couldn't sleep. Thoughts of the orphaned baby plagued her thoughts. They had gotten the adoption request approval at around seven that evening, but had not discussed it further. Her parents, of course, knew of the accepted adoption request, and were fine with it, of course. But Rapunzel just couldn't stop thinking about the child. She knew it was probably just because she'd felt so bad for it - not that she didn't feel terrible for <em>all <em>of the orphans. She just felt...she didn't know quite how to explain it.  
>Sighing, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block her thoughts.<br>Eugene, who was curled up behind her, reached out and pulled her up against him. "You still awake?"  
>"Yeah," she whispered.<br>"What's up?"  
>"I just can't…I don't know. For some reason, I can't stop thinking about-"<br>"The baby?" Eugene filled in.  
>"Yes. Why are you still up?"<br>"Same reason," he chuckled.  
>They quieted for a moment, and Eugene was the first one to break the silence with a quiet sentence. "We could go back tomorrow and ask if we could adopt that baby."<br>She sat up in bed. "Do you think that's what we should do?"  
>He sat up as well, furrowing his brows in thought. "Well, I think it's more than a coincidence, the fact that we were there and you literally got it handed over to you."<br>"I…" she trailed off. "I was kind of thinking about the same thing, but I thought maybe I was just…being me."  
>He nodded. "We'll talk it over with your parents in the morning. And I suppose we'll finish talking it over with each other in the morning, too!"<br>She giggled. "Yeah, that might be a good idea." She flopped over backwards in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Oh…I'm so excited now. We might be able to start a family!"  
>He grinned, leaning over her to pepper her cheeks with quick kisses. She laughed, pushing at his chest until he quit. "I take it you might be a little excited, too?"<br>He laid down beside her, turning to look at her face, which was barely visible. "Of course I am. But I'm also glad to see you happy again."


	27. Chapter 27: Aisling Rose Fitzherbert

The next morning, they ate a fast breakfast before explaining to Rapunzel's parents what they hoped to do. They were both supportive of it, of course.  
>"Then let's go!" Rapunzel cried excitedly. She was way too excited to wait. She was also just a wee bit anxious to adopt the baby; she was scared that it would die like the ones Eugene had told her about. She didn't even remember if it was a girl or a boy, but it didn't matter to her. She grabbed Eugene's arm and fairly dragged him from his seat.<br>"Wait up," he laughed. "We need to figure out what we need to pick up in town, too. Babies need a lot of stuff."  
>Her eyes widened. "O-oh. I'm glad you have half of a brain,"<br>He chuckled. "You're just excited, as you should be. I am, too, don't worry." Turning to the King and Queen, he asked, "What…what exactly do babies _need_? It's been a long time since I was in the orphanage, and they don't necessarily provide everything."  
>Her mother burst out laughing. "Oh, darlings….I'm not the one to ask! I only had Rapunzel in my care for one evening."<br>"But we probably have some of her things in the storage room," the King added quietly. "We can look. But you'd need a feeding bottle and clothes – and cloth diapers. I'm fairly certain that Rapunzel's bedding and mobile are still in our possession. We've given quite a lot of it away to some families in need." he explained.  
>Rapunzel nodded, her eyes wide as she took in all of the new information. "And...well…what would it drink?"<br>"Goat's milk would be best," her mother nodded. "The farmers' market should sell glass bottles of it."  
>The young princess looked towards Eugene as he stood. "Well, princess…the next step is to go see what we can get ourselves into."<br>A smile split her face, but her parents requested hugs before she took off for the door, Eugene following in her wake.

Two guards met them at the door, offering to accompany them so they would have a peaceful experience in the town square, but they refused. The village folk were used to seeing Rapunzel and Eugene out and about; they wouldn't swarm them. When they got to the orphanage once more, Claire met them at the door, carrying a large basket full of wet bedding.  
>"Oh!" she gasped, dropping the basket in her surprise. "I'm so sorry—"<br>"I'm sorry – I should have been watching where I was going," Rapunzel giggled, bending to help her pick up the dripping bedding.  
>"If you don't mind me asking, are you back for Jamison's baby?"<br>Rapunzel froze. How did she know? "Um…"  
>Eugene filled in for her. "Yes, if all goes well..?" the sentence tilted up into a question as the worst scenarios filled his mind.<br>The woman's thin face beamed as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, revealing dark brown eyes. "Good. And best of luck to you! I'm happy to know that that poor little thing will have a chance instead of staying here until who-knows-when."  
>She actually pulled Rapunzel into an impulsive hug before scooping up her basket, thanking her for the help picking the bedding up.<br>When they went through the door and into the office, Mrs. Brigsly met them with a greeting. "Your application was accepted. There wasn't any doubt that it wouldn't be, of course," she finished.  
>"Yes," Rapunzel nodded. "And…well.."<br>"Let me guess: Jamison's baby?"  
>"Huh?" it was Eugene's turn to be surprised. Mrs. Brigsly wasn't the sharpest, quickest tool in the shed. She didn't usually pick up on much.<br>She shook her head. "Deary, I know the look of an adoptive family when they've met the right child. Also, I was pretty much praying that you'd come back. I know you'll take care and treat the baby right, won't be abusive like some of our adoptive families end up being. It would kill me to see that child fall into the wrong hands."  
>"We don't even know if it's a girl or a boy…but we just felt like…"<br>"Like we needed to come back," Eugene finished, and Rapunzel let a small smile go across her face. Eugene didn't often elaborate on gut feelings.  
>"Yes. Well, the poor little dear's been fussy, so the best of luck to ya. Anyway, we'll get some more papers written up and signed, and then she's as good as yours."<br>As soon as she finished her sentence, she had whipped a long sheet of flimsy paper out, dipped her feather pen into the inkwell, and started scratching a long sentence out. She explained that, with their signatures, it meant that they accepted the conditions of adoption that had been read off to them the day before, and it was the last thing necessary to legally bind them and give the child over into their care; next, they paid the adoption fees.  
>After that, Mrs. Brigsly left, and a moment later, returned with a sobbing bundle. "Here's your little deary,"<br>Rapunzel hesitated, just slightly intimidated. She'd held babies before, and loved them, of course, but suddenly, the knowledge that this screaming bundle of joy was theirs to care for made her freeze, her eyes wide with a mix of excitement, awe, and terror. Eugene, luckily, caught this, and took the baby from Mrs. Brigsley's chunky arms.  
>She continued babbling on. "I'm happy to know that she will be in good hands. Now, you can get a feeding-bottle from…ah…you can get them from the specialty store here in town, I'm fairly certain."<br>"Okay," Rapunzel nodded. "What's her name?" Her heart was tripping along at a fairly fast pace; it was all becoming real now. They were parents.  
>Mrs. Brigsley looked embarrassed, her plump cheeks turning red. "Well…ah…yesterday was so busy and...we didn't name her."<br>Rapunzel nodded again, glancing towards Eugene. He was purely enraptured by the baby in his arms, but he caught her glance and smiled. "Well, we'll take care of that."  
>"Alrighty. Well, you're all set, dears. I hope to see you all around again soon!"<br>They both nodded. "Of course. I'm sure I'll be back with Eugene, if not – I don't think we'll quit volunteering anytime soon!" Rapunzel reassured her.  
>"Good. The kids do appreciate it. Now, I suppose I'll let you get out of here before she gets hungry again," she nodded towards the baby, and Rapunzel and Eugene exchanged pleasantries before leaving.<p>

When they were out of the orphanage, Eugene immediately stopped. "Do you want to hold her?"  
>The baby had quieted her whimpers, but Rapunzel still felt a little intimidated for some reason.<br>"What if I-"  
>"You'll do fine, sweetie, I've seen you with the babies at the orphanage. She's no different." he grinned, and Rapunzel nibbled her lip as he eased the baby into her arms. "Just support her head – you know how to hold them."<br>She nodded, staring with about the same amount of curiosity and wonder as the baby was her. What would the baby be like as she grows older? Would she have a fondness for painting or reading? Would she be adventurous? Shy? Rebellious? The child's brown eyes stared up into her green ones for a tense moment that seemed like an eternity, but then she yawned, squeezing her eyes shut and burrowing her nose into the thin blanket.  
>Eugene couldn't help but notice the adoring smile that crossed his wife's face, and he slipped his arm around her shoulders. "See? You're doing fine. Now, we need to head into town."<p>

In the bustling town square, Rapunzel kept the baby's ears blocked by pressing one side of her head into her chest and using her hand to gently cover the other ear, letting her remain asleep through the yells, laughs, and clopping of horse hooves. The newborn specialty store was their first stop. No one else had a store dedicated solely to babies in the entire country, and the shelves were stocked high with supplies. Rapunzel carried the baby while Eugene did all the reaching: quite a few of the items they needed were on high shelves to prevent someone from stealing them as easily. This included the silver feeding-bottle. As they were browsing through the tiny clothes, in delicate shades of pastels that Rapunzel just loved, the baby woke up, took one deep breath, and started wailing.  
>Rapunzel whirled around to look at Eugene, who was looking at something on a higher shelf. He looked over at her, realizing she looked about as ready to cry as the baby was.<br>"Wh-what did I do?"  
>He chuckled. "You didn't do anything. She's probably hungry. Here, let me take her. Why don't you see if they have any goat's milk?"<br>Rapunzel nodded, trading the baby for the feeding-bottle and the few other items in Eugene's arms, and then hurried for the desk where the merchant waited.  
>"You've got a hungry baby, I hear," the old woman, with a weathered face and a wart on her nose, smiled and nodded in the direction of the baby's increasingly loud cries.<br>"Yes," she gasped, laughing quietly. "Might you have any goat's milk?"  
>The woman took her spectacles up, nodding. "We can get some right fresh for ya. Hugh!" she called, and a young boy in muddy clothes came racing inside. "Oh, dear – I told you not to play in the mud! We'll save that discussion for later, though – get a clean pail and milk Nanny, won't you?" He nodded, grabbing a pail and racing back out the door. The woman finally turned back to Rapunzel, reaching to adjust her spectacles on her nose. She gasped when the princess came into focus. "Your majesty! Hello! But...I thought you miscarried..?"<br>Rapunzel bit her lip, her hand straying to her stomach once more. "I did. The castle doctor said it wouldn't be wise to attempt having children…so we adopted a baby today."  
>The woman grimaced with pity. "My sister went through the same thing, poor dear. Bless you for adopting, though – I wouldn't think that the royal family would adopt a peasant baby."<br>"She'll be treated like our own," Rapunzel reassured. "We're both blessed to have her in our care."  
>She nodded, but then turned to see the young boy, who had barreled through the door, droplets of milk flying in his haste.<br>"Thank you, dear. Now, you may go back to what you were doing – but don't you _dare_ touch that mud! Your mother's bound to have a hissy."  
>He nodded, but didn't look as though he would heed the woman's warning. He instead turned his attention to Rapunzel.<br>"Why's the princess here, granny?" he asked, pointing.  
>"Now, it's not nice to point, dear! She's got a baby," she nodded. "Adopted one, like how your mum adopted you."<br>He gave a toothy smile. "Someday, I'm gonna be a knight!" he addressed Rapunzel boldly.  
>"Now—" the boy's grandmother started to reprimand him once more, but Rapunzel moved towards him and knelt in front of him.<br>"What do you mean? You're already a knight! You were obviously fighting some dreadful beast, and that's how you got so dirty, wasn't it?" she asked, playing along. He nodded, wide eyed and suddenly stricken with shyness by how close he was to the princess of Corona. With that, he turned on his heel and tore out of the door, yelling to one of his friends.  
>"Oh, he'll be going on about that for weeks," the woman chuckled. "He's always wanted to meet the princess."<p>

"He's a sweetheart," Rapunzel laughed, but turned to glance towards a loud cry. Eugene looked a little harried, so she grinned. "I'd better get this paid for before Eugene loses it. He looks a little lost."  
>The woman chuckled again, and Rapunzel paid for the feeding-bottle as well as the warm, fresh milk, and watched as the woman demonstrated how to fill the bottle, tying a thin, clean linen over the top. The baby, she explained, would suck on the linen and the milk would come out and not choke her, unlike if the tip would be left uncovered – then the milk would just drain out in a hurry. Thanking her, she rushed back to Eugene and the tiny, crying bundle.<br>"Hey…I've got something for you," she took the baby back and offered the feeding-bottle. She grabbed at it and opened her mouth, sucking at it greedily. She hiccupped quietly, watching Rapunzel's face as she worked at the bottle.  
>As the baby ate, Eugene resumed going through the clothes: they finally decided on a few simple outfits, and after paying for them, a copious amount of cloth diapers and a few blankets, they left for the farmer's market. Eugene carried the brown paper bags filled with their goods and Rapunzel minced along beside him, carrying the tiny newborn, who was watching everything with sleepy eyes. At the farmer's market, they bought a days' worth of goats' milk, and actually ended up buying a nanny goat, which they would keep in the royal stable.<p>

"Just wait until my father goes to visit the horses and sees a goat!" Rapunzel giggled, watching as the large brown-and-white goat meandered along beside them, tied to a rope that Eugene held.  
>He laughed. "I'd be willing to hide out in the stable in the hay, just to see that."<br>"I hope they'll be okay with us buying a goat. I mean…it _is _for their adoptive granddaughter. She needs fresh milk, and we couldn't possibly go out every single day for fresh milk from the farmer's market until she's weaned."  
>"They'll be fine with it, I'm sure," he said…but a cheeky grin covered his face soon after. "But I can guarantee the looks on their faces will be priceless. A goat in the royal stable."<br>"It could be the Royal Nanny-Goat of Corona," Rapunzel joked, trying to deadpan but failing.

The rest of the day sped by. Emilie swept the baby away, giving her a bath while Rapunzel, Eugene, and the King got the nursery set up. Rapunzel's old mobile, bedding, and thick blanket, as well as two fancy dresses, were left in the storage room, so they were all brought out for the child. The baby was dressed and swaddled up in a purple blanket, and some of the goat's milk was heated with a small fire and a kettle, just in time for her next feeding. The rest of the day was spent with the entire family coddling the newborn. Of course, the baby was content to be held, and the King and Queen barely let Rapunzel or Eugene hold her for most of the day. They had barely even gotten to hold Rapunzel before she was kidnapped, so they were taking the opportunity to hold their adoptive granddaughter and running with it.

Eugene's hand-carved cradle was moved into his and Rapunzel's room, bedded down with Rapunzel's old bedding and the thick blanket. Pascal claimed it as his very own bed, but wasn't too pleased to discover the squirming, crying bundle that actually resided in it.  
>When the King and Queen retired to bed, Rapunzel and Eugene went as well, taking their treasure and depositing her in the cradle meant for their own baby.<br>"I have a surprise for you, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I didn't tell you about it, because I planned to surprise you when our baby was born. It's still at the wood shop."  
>"Oh?" she smiled curiously, and he chuckled.<br>"You'll have to wait for tomorrow." She tried her pout that usually ended up with him spilling the beans, but he turned his attention to the baby, now dressed in a plain white nightgown. "Tell mum she's gotta learn how to be patient."  
>"Don't you turn her on me already," she giggled, going over to scoop the irresistible bundle out of the cradle. Sitting down beside Eugene on their bed, she studied the baby's face. "What's this little one going to be named?"<br>"My mum's name was Rose, and your mother's is Laurel," he offered. "Both are flower names…and you were given your powers by a flower."  
>"But we fell for each other because of a dream…" she trailed off, watching the baby study her. Eugene watched them study one another, grinning as he realized he was watching Rapunzel watch the baby watch her. "Aisling Rose?"<br>"Huh?" he cleared his throat, breaking out of his thoughts.  
>"Aisling Rose. Aisling is Irish for dream, and Rose is your mother's name. Aisling Rose Fitzherbert."<br>Eugene tried not to seem excited by it, but he immediately thought it fit. "Yeah, that's a neat name," he managed, but the pleased grin betrayed him.  
>"Oh, you love it and you know it!" Rapunzel laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "Aisling Rose. It sounds beautiful. Just like you, huh?"<br>"Were you directing that to the baby or to me?" Eugene teased, pointing out her abrupt change in who she was talking to.  
>She clucked her tongue. "He's silly and full of himself, isn't he?" the baby waved a fist, growing irritated with the conversation. "And you're probably sleepy, right?"<p>

Sometime through the night, the baby woke, crying and wanting fed again. Eugene got up with her and carted her off into the castle's kitchen, where he somehow managed to start a small fire, heat the milk in a kettle, and pour it into the feeding-bottle while holding Aisling with one arm.  
>Rapunzel woke up sometime after he left, and stumbled sleepily out to the kitchen herself, rubbing her eyes. She paused when she heard him talking, peering in through the door to see her husband and adopted daughter by the soft glow of the fire beneath the kettle as well as the candle on one of the counters.<br>"…see, we don't have much experience at all. Her parents don't even have much experience with babies. But we'll try our best, I promise. And you'll have to put up with me – Rapunzel's doing fine, but I'm sure I'll mess up some way. I'm learning, too. But we'll love you, and I promise you'll never feel different because you were adopted; and you'll never feel unloved or unwanted. I promise you that – I don't want you to ever feel any of those things, not like I did. And-" he broke off, setting the bottle aside when she finished. "-you'll be a princess. Weird, right? We're in the same boat that way. I was just an orphan, too, and a thief! Rapunzel was stolen as a baby – when she was just about as little as you. So we're definitely an odd little family, but we'll make it work. Deal?" he eased the blanket away from the baby's face a bit more, and she grabbed his thumb, wrapping her hand around it. An expression of pure adoration washed over his face, and he decided right then and there that he'd go to the ends of the earth to protect his little family. He already knew that, but it just set in. He glanced up, and his eyes widened when he saw Rapunzel leaning against the door frame. "Uh…how long have you been there?"  
>"Long enough to realize how great of a guy you are, how spectacular of a father you'll be, and how blessed we are to have this little one in our care," she smiled, padding across the room to peek at the baby's tiny face. Her grin widened when the baby reached to clutch at her fingers, and Eugene slipped the bundle into his wife's arms.<br>"You want to take her? I'll be back in a few minutes." he said.  
>"What're you going to do?"<br>"Midnight snack," he said sheepishly, "those rolls were really good, and I noticed there were a couple left over in the toss-out bin."  
>She laughed quietly, shaking her head as she headed back to their room. She cuddled Aisling until she drifted back to sleep, and then eased her back into her cradle before slipping back into their own bed, checking to make sure Pascal was still snoozing on one of the pillows. Eugene crept in a few minutes later, taking a peek at the baby before blowing out his candle and crawling into bed himself, immediately pulling Rapunzel up against him.<br>"We're so lucky," she mumbled. "I love you."  
>He answered her, but she was already asleep.<p> 


	28. Chapter 28: A Trip and a Child

The next morning, they woke up at about five AM to a wailing baby. Rapunzel quickly heated up some milk for her, and Eugene fed her while Rapunzel dressed behind the dressing-curtain. When she was dressed, she plopped down on the edge of the bed, watching as he carefully rubbed her back, trying to burp her. Unfortunately, he didn't have a burp cloth, and she spewed milk all down his back. He squirmed, grimacing and wrinkling his nose.  
>"I…did not think that through," he cleared his throat, his back stiff. Holding back a giggle, Rapunzel quickly took Aisling from him, letting him go change. She couldn't hold back her snickers, though. He popped his head around the dressing-curtain. "Hey. Just wait until that happens to you. You won't be snickering, I guarantee you."<br>She laughed. "I know. But your face was priceless, dear."  
>Aisling watched her, eyes large as she hiccupped a couple of times before she started crying again. Rapunzel turned her attention back to her and gently wiped at her mouth before leaving to the nursery to get her dressed and change her cloth diaper.<p>

When everyone was clean of milk, dressed, and presentable, they made their way down to the dining hall to eat. A maid took the feeding-bottle to scrub it out, and another slipped outside to milk the nanny-goat, which Rapunzel's parents had yet to find out about. All of the maids and stable hands were in on it; nobody would say a word until the King stumbled upon the goat.

The King and Queen greeted them, as usual, with a good morning, and the King promptly reached to take Aisling from Rapunzel.  
>"How did she sleep?" the Queen asked.<br>"She was up and down through the night," Eugene said. "But she was pretty good, I guess. She's very vocal when she gets hungry."  
>The Queen smiled, although it was almost melancholy. "She's such a dear. Rapunzel, darling, I hate to even ask you, but will you be okay by yourself for a couple of weeks? We recently recieved a letter notifying us of the wedding of the prince of Denmark, and the ship would need to leave tomorrow morning. I apologize, it slipped my mind yesterday."<br>Rapunzel immediately shook her head. "We'll be fine! You'll have to give them my congratulations."  
>"Are you sure?" this was the first time since Rapunzel's return that the Queen had left with the King to another country.<br>"Yes, mother," she laughed. "It's not like I'll be all alone!"  
>"Okay," she said. "I just don't want to leave you if you're still uncertain about the whole parenting thing."<br>"She won't be alone," Eugene said. "I was planning on requesting some time off of work at the wood shop, but since you're going to be gone, I can ask for two weeks."  
>"But you don't have to," Rapunzel shook her head. "I could manage."<br>"I know," he nodded. "Buuut I want to anyway."  
>The conversation paused as a maid bustled in with the breakfast meal. She threw a smile and wiggled her fingers in a wave towards Aisling, but then turned to set the meal out on the table. After breakfast, the King announced he would be going outside to groom his horses, something he generally did before he left the country. Rapunzel flashed a small grin towards Eugene, and he shook his head slightly. The Queen immediately took the baby from her husband, and the rest of them just sat in the dining hall and discussed last-minute details of running the kingdom while they were gone.<p>

Soon, the King burst through the door, a look of confusion on his face. "Laurel, since when do we have a goat?"  
>"A <em>goat<em>?" she asked. "Are you sure you saw it correctly?"  
>Rapunzel heard the muffled giggles of maids echoing down the hallway into the dining hall. She looked at Eugene and giggled herself.<br>"We…ah…we took the liberty of purchasing a goat yesterday. Aisling will need fresh milk everyday, and we figured that having a goat of our own would be both cheaper and easier than going to market and buying bottles of it every day. I hope you don't mind," Rapunzel said when she had gained composure. "It's the official Nanny-Goat of Corona!"  
>The King looked annoyed at first, but then he chuckled. "Yes, it's fine. You could've told us, though."<br>"We thought it'd be funny to see your reaction," she explained.  
>"I'm sure that was your husband's idea," he teased.<br>"Well…it was a mutual decision," she laughed.  
>"We'll make sure it gets its own stall. It chewed up some empty burlap bags last night, but that's as much damage as it did."<br>"Okay," she tried to suppress another laugh, but failed when her father chuckled.  
>After that, the King returned to the stable, and Eugene stood up out of his seat.<br>"Well, I'd better go to the wood shop. I'll be picking up that surprise I promised you, and then I'll make sure there isn't any unfinished work I need to finish before time off. Okay?"  
>"Okay," she stood up as well, smiling. "I'll see you later."<br>"Yup – love you!" he bent to give her a quick kiss.  
>"Love you too," she grinned, blushing when she looked over at her mother, who was taking in the scene with a goofy smile.<br>Eugene cleared his throat and went over to Rapunzel's mother, bending to kiss Aisling's forehead. "And I'll see you later, cutie." She waved her arms and grabbed at the tip of his nose, to which he grinned before straightening and heading for the door.

When he left the room, Rapunzel sighed happily -without really even knowing it. The Queen laughed quietly, glancing back down at Aisling for a moment. "I'm so happy you married a man that makes you that happy. Much better than being forced into a marriage with someone you hardly know."  
>Rapunzel turned towards her mother, blushing. "Yes. I'm so thankful for him. And for you guys for bending the rules a bit!"<br>She shook her head, smiling and standing up. "I suppose you should take this little darling. I'm hoarding her. I need to get things set up for tomorrow."  
>Rapunzel nodded, going over to scoop the baby from her arms. Aisling buried her face into the crook of Rapunzel's chest, quickly falling asleep. They both watched the child for a moment before exchanging silent, motherly smiles. The Queen put her hand over her heart. "I've just gotten my baby back, and here she is with one of her own."<br>Rapunzel grinned. "Well, she's not mine, but…she'll be treated as it. I feel kind of odd calling her _my_ baby, though…I mean...it feels wrong to say she's mine when it was another girl that carried her and gave birth to her; did all the work. It feels like I'm taking credit or something. You know what I mean?"  
>She nodded. "I know. But she's an orphan, and she'll grow up calling you her mom, so it's only correct to call her your daughter. It's okay. I'm sure you grew up calling Gothel your mother, and you her daughter?"<br>"She just called me her 'flower'," Rapunzel shook her head. "But you have a point, and I did call her my mother. I feel so stupid for never realizing that."  
>"How could you possibly know? She had you since you were as tiny as Aisling," she said, gesturing for Rapunzel to follow her to the master bedroom.<br>"I know. But…how gullible was I?"  
>"You were just very innocent and trusting – you still are. You never knew anything else!" she pulled some items from her armoire, setting them on the bed before retrieving a large burlap bag, which she would place the items into.<br>Rapunzel nodded, looking down at Aisling. "Someday, should I tell her she's adopted?"  
>Her mother hesitated. "It's up to you," she said finally. "But sometimes, it's not a good thing. Remember how you probably felt when you found out you'd been kidnapped? She might have a similar feeling; the feeling that she'd never known her parents and that she might have been lied to her whole life. Of course, the lies would be saying that you're her parents and she's your daughter, so it's a very different situation, but the possibility is still there. However, I will leave that up to you two. It might be better to ask Eugene about it."<br>She nodded thoughtfully. "I'll talk to him later," she said.  
>They were quiet after that; Rapunzel watched her mother prepare for the trip as she held the baby close. Pascal, who had finally woken and left the bedroom, came gliding into the room, clicking his tongue happily when he finally saw Rapunzel. She grinned, motioning to him with her head. He crawled onto the bed and up her arm, settling on her shoulder, even though he stared at the baby girl with disdain.<p>

Later that day, she was still in the room watching her parents prepare when Eugene came into the room. She had fed the baby three times, and she was sleeping contentedly in her arms once more when Eugene knocked on the King and Queen's door, which was ajar.  
>"Come in," the Queen called quietly.<br>He smiled in greeting, scooping the sleeping baby from his wife's arms. "Hey, you," he whispered. "I've got two weeks off to spend with my two girls."  
>"Great," Rapunzel grinned, reaching to peck his cheek.<br>"How much has she eaten today?"  
>"Three bottles' worth of milk," she said. "And two diaper changes."<br>"Okay. You're on the ball," he said. "Want to follow me for a minute so I can show you what I brought home today?"  
>"Okay..?" she stood up and looked curiously at him. He nodded his head, gesturing her to follow him, so she did.<p>

In one corner of their room, a wooden rocking chair now sat. Thin, smooth and polished branches twisted around the sides, and thin slabs of wood made up the back, seat, and arm rests. He tossed a blanket over it, and held his hand out to it. "Viola."  
>She giggled. "It's beautiful. It'll be nice to rock her to sleep with it. You're the most amazing person on earth!"<br>"Well...," he winked, but then turned the tables. "I'm second-best."  
>"Huh?"<br>"I'm looking at the most amazing person on earth," he teased, just to see her blush. It worked, and she rolled her eyes to try to cover up her embarrassment.  
>"You're terrible."<br>"I know," he chuckled quietly, shifting the baby in his arms.


	29. Chapter 29: Tales of Eugene Fitzherbert

"Why _now_?"  
>"Because," Rapunzel grinned, shifting the baby in her arms, "it's a slow day. Nothing to take care of, really, and you're here, soo…plus, you promised you would tell me soon."<br>Eugene sighed. He _really _didn't want to tell Rapunzel his back story. On the other hand, she did have a right to know – how many women married their husbands with absolutely no clue as to who they were growing up, except for being a _thief_?  
>"Oh well. I'll bore you to death anyway," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.<br>"I seriously doubt it!" she nodded her head, motioning for him to follow her. She knew he wouldn't want maids or the guards overhearing his story, so they went to their bedroom. Rapunzel settled down in the new rocking chair, giving Aisling the feeding-bottle she'd prepared, and Eugene pulled over the overly-plush purple chair.  
>"Well…are you <em>sure<em>?" he asked, glancing up at her with an almost nervous expression.  
>"I'm positive. I won't make fun or be…you know…judgmental or anything."<br>"I know," he nodded and took a deep breath, allowing himself to be transported back in time. "Eugene Fitzherbert Senior was my father. He was a fisherman, hardly made any money, but we made due. You know that my father always encouraged my woodworking abilities, right? I made a little extra doing work for the neighbors, starting when I was about four and a half. I had a real knack for fixing stuff, and could use a hammer and nails without hurting myself. Saws and sandpaper presented a bit of a problem, but I was careful and knew my way around the tools. When I was five, my mum had another baby, but she died of complications shortly thereafter. Pa was away, but I…I knew something had to be done with the baby. I tried to feed my little sister with cow milk and make sure she was warm and everything, but I…just don't know. I don't know if it was my fault that she died too, or if it was because she was just so little. I don't know," he repeated, pausing a moment and staring down at his hands. "Then one of my father's coworkers came. Pa had fallen overboard trying to haul a net full of fish up into the boat. He should've been able to swim back, but he got tangled up in the net and…well…you know.

In about two weeks, my mother, my father, and my baby sister all died. I didn't have any relatives, so the coworker made sure that one of the neighbors took me in. They beat me. I took too much interest in books and not enough interest in my work. I wasn't allowed to work with wood. I wasn't allowed to do _anything _but work and work and do as they said. The man would come home drunk, and his kids would get sent to their rooms and locked inside, but he'd abuse me in every way, shape, and form that he could think of. The other day, you know how you noticed the little scars across my shoulder? He'd take a pocket knife and press the tip into my skin until I'd do whatever it was that he wanted me to do. Those scars came from days when I, heh, started questioning him. The old woman was no better. I got sick of them and ran away when I was six. Someone from the orphanage found me when I was cold, starving, and groveling at their doorstep, and they took me to the orphanage.  
>They weren't the nicest folks, but they were better than the neighbors. There were a lot of older kids that picked on me because I was always reading <em>Flynnigan Rider<em>, once I found the book…so I got into a lot of fights. You already know that I read to the younger kids every night. They liked me, I guess. I helped take care of the younger ones and the older ones helped take care of me and the other kids in my age group. Mrs. Brigsly was there when I was, too. When I got to be about ten, and nobody had adopted me, I tried to run away. I got it into my head that I could be like Flynnigan Rider. When my attempts failed in someone finding me, I would be returned. 'Til…when I was seventeen, they finally let me go. Thus started my career in thieving. I had to. I hated to, my pa had been an honest man that never stole, and I'd looked up to him. But then it just became…habit. Exhilarating. My only excitement. Of course, I tried to flirt with girls, mostly to schmooze my way inside in order to get a free meal or something. I started getting into trouble with the guards when I was twenty, and joined up with the Stabbingtons to steal your crown when I was twenty-two. And…that's it, I guess." he sighed, sitting back in his chair and waiting for the onslaught of questions bound to come from the girl seated by him.

Rapunzel thought for a few minutes, allowing it all to sink in. She watched Aisling Rose play with her fingers, and then she looked up at Eugene. "I'm so sorry."  
>"About what?"<br>"Well…about your family, and how you were abused, and-"  
>He shook his head. "I guess that was normal for the area that I lived in. It was just that I wasn't theirs, and just an extra mouth to feed that they didn't want."<br>She nodded quietly. "Gothel would…you know. Hit me or push me around some if I asked too many questions. She said it wasn't good for a girl to be so curious. But that's nothing compared to what you must've gone through. Speaking of girls, were there any first loves?"  
>The young man shrugged, growing red in the face with embarrassment. "I liked girls, sure, but it was all unrequited. I guess it was probably lust more than actual love. There was a girl that I thought had a thing for me, but she was only pretending to be nice in order to gain my trust so she could turn me in to the guards and collect the reward they were offering. That was about two years before I met you and understood what true love feels like."<br>Rapunzel nodded, her eyes wide as she took in all the new information. "Were you in any foster homes?"  
>"Three. I always ended up running away, and then they'd notify the orphanage and the orphanage people would always find me. I don't know how they did it."<br>"Why would you run away?"  
>"Two families abused me and the third tried to starve me."<br>She bit her lip. "How could they be so…so dreadful?"  
>He chuckled. "I was a pretty dreadful kid, I guess. Always daydreaming or reading and getting distracted instead of doing my work. Of course, I didn't really mean to, it just…"<br>"Happened?" Rapunzel grinned.  
>"Yup." he stood out of his chair and reached to collect the baby from Rapunzel's arms, grinning goofily down at the tiny girl before turning his attention back to his wife. "So…are you satisfied now that you've heard my backstory?"<br>She smiled, standing up to give him a kiss on the jaw. "Yes. Thank you, hon."  
>Eugene grinned teasingly. "That all? A kiss on the jaw and a thank you? Sheesh."<br>Rapunzel laughed, shaking her head. "You're terrible. I love you."  
>He winked. "A bit contradictory, but I'll take it."<p> 


	30. Chapter 30: Fairytales

"It was a pleasure meeting you!" Rapunzel curtsied under the ever-watchful eye of her mother. The tributary from France, a brown-haired and brown-eyed woman who kept a book tucked in the pocket of her cloak, stood and curtsied as well. They exchanged pleasantries and then the young woman left. She was approximately one year younger than Rapunzel; it was odd to see a girl younger than she and already with a brood of three children with the King of France. Of course, she had an excuse, what with being shut in the tower for eighteen years and all, but it still was very odd for the choppy-haired princess. But she didn't plan on thinking about that for too long - she wanted to spend a little bit of free time with her husband and daughter. Eugene had returned home from work shortly before Belle's arrival. He'd made himself scarce when the Queen had stated that they were preparing for tea with a tributary.

Hurrying down the hallway and trying to pull her heeled shoes off in the process, she rushed for their bedroom. The baby, just one month old, was still sleeping in their room. Surprisingly enough, neither of them were in the room. She kicked off her shoes and set her tiara on the bed, for lack of a better location for the time being. Next stop: the kitchen. Eugene was likely annoying the chef by feeding Aisling in the kitchen, instead of having a maid make up a feeding-bottle and then delivering it to him in another room: out of the way of the cook.  
>"Hello!" Rapunzel greeted the old, crusty cook warmly. She got a disgusted grunt and a cross glance in response. "Is Eugene in here?" she stood in the doorway, knowing the old man would be irritated if she stepped foot inside of the kitchen.<br>"No."  
>"Okay; thank you!" she blew him a kiss and left, wondering where her next stop should be. The balcony?<br>No. No one was on the balcony.

She trotted to the King's office.  
>"Hello, sweetheart. What's up?" he asked, setting his spectacles down on top of a pile of papers.<br>"Hi," she smiled. "I'm just looking for Eugene and Aisling."  
>"He made himself scarce as well, correct?"<br>Rapunzel paused. As well?  
>"You didn't want to be their either, did you? Did you even have documents to go over?"<br>He put a finger to his lips, his pale eyes dancing with amusement. "Shh. I just don't see the point in sitting over tea unless it's on important business. I _did _have a couple of letters to respond to, however."  
>She shook her head, giggling. "You'll have to teach me your tricks."<br>He chuckled, and Rapunzel hurried off.

Finally, she went into the library. "Eugene? Are you guys in here?"  
>"Are they gone?"<br>She laughed, hurrying to find the owner of the voice. He was curled up on a chair with a book in one hand and Aisling in the other.  
>The baby's doe eyes were glittering as she stared at the book that Eugene held...it wasn't <em>Flynnigan Rider<em>, but instead a fairytale.  
>Rapunzel grinned. "Starting her off early?"<br>"You're never too early to start 'em off in reading," he said, glancing down at the baby affectionately. "She's been fed and changed and has been pretty quiet."  
>Rapunzel nodded, smiling. "Do you like fairytales, hm, sweetie?" she reached to scoop the irresistible baby from her husband's arms, kissing her forehead. Eugene stood, stretching his back and looking at the book still in his hands.<br>"How much time do we have until supper?"  
>She shrugged. "A good while. The cook is still...cooking."<br>He chuckled. "Well, could I interest you in some reading?"  
>The princess's green eyes shone with excitement. She <em>loved <em>listening to his reading, almost as much as she loved reading itself. "I'm fairly certain you know the answer,"  
>He chuckled, sitting back down and draping one arm over the back of the chair, holding his book in the other hand. Rapunzel sat with Aisling and curled up to his side, and they took turns reading to the baby.<p> 


	31. Chapter 31: Little Smiles

**A/N: Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday! This is just a really quick one-shot; thanks again for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. You guys are amazing!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>August turned into September, and Eugene's work slowly tapered off. Of course, Rapunzel and Eugene both appreciated this fact now that they had Aisling.<p>

One morning towards the middle of September, Rapunzel woke Eugene at promptly seven o'clock.  
>"Let's go for a walk! Aisling would enjoy it, I bet."<br>Eugene groaned, burying his face in his pillow. "How can you be so energetic?"  
>"Because! It's a <em>gorgeous <em>September day and we need to go for a walk!" she shook his shoulder. He teasingly pushed her hands away, but she retaliated by hitting him with a pillow.  
>"Do I need Pascal to-"<br>Oh, heck no. "I'm up," he sat, rubbing at his face.  
>She giggled, reaching to rumple his already messy hair. "Thought that might work, sweetie."<br>"Hmmh," he grumbled, but she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.  
>She laughed at his sleepy expression, hopping out of bed to get dressed. In the meantime, Aisling announced her waking with a loud cry.<br>"I'm coming, I'm coming," Eugene yawned, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and getting up.

When they were dressed and ready, the trio went to the dining hall. Rapunzel simultaneously fed herself and the baby, talking eagerly in between mouthfuls.  
>"Is it alright to go for a walk today?" Rapunzel asked her mother.<br>The Queen smiled. "Yes, dearest. Would you like us to watch Aisling?"  
>She shook her head. "We'll take her. Won't we, cutie? You've never been away from the castle yet."<br>Aisling watched her a moment before hiccuping.  
>Eugene chuckled. "Yet? She's only a couple of months old."<br>"Hey. I'm giving her what I never had," she scrunched her nose and made a face at Eugene. He dabbed her cheek with butter from his biscuit, grinning when she rolled her eyes and rubbed at her cheek, hiding a smile.

After they ate, they packed a lunch for themselves, some goat's milk and the feeding-bottle, and a few cloth diapers in Eugene's old satchel. They grabbed Pascal and were on their way, hurrying quickly to escape the town village.  
>"I love this trail," she grinned, shifting the baby in her arms.<br>"I know," Eugene smiled, watching the girl gaze at the trees. The leaves would soon be turning brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow. Aisling gazed out from her blanket, looking around with wide eyes, but soon yawned, sticking her thumb in her mouth and sucking on it.  
>"It always makes me want to paint, though. Oh, just wait until you can paint, sweetie. It's so much fun!" Rapunzel quickly swung her attention to her daughter.<br>Eugene slipped an arm around the girl's slim shoulders. "We'll be in big trouble when she learns about paint. The walls will never be the same again. Probably none of the furniture, either," he chuckled. "But when we get home, I can watch her while you paint awhile. Sound good?" she had given up painting after her miscarriage.  
>Her eyes widened and she glanced up at him, a smile splitting her face. "You're amazing!"<br>"I know," he teased, ducking to kiss her forehead.

When they got to their clearing and the familiar old oak, they settled to feed Aisling and eat their lunch. Pascal took the opportunity to snatch some of their grapes and climb the oak, turning colors to match the bark.  
>When the baby had finished the feeding-bottle and had been burped, Rapunzel settled her in her arms, situating her so she could look around.<br>"You taking in all the sights, hm?" Eugene peered down at Aisling, grinning goofily at her before gently pecking her forehead. The child smiled a split second before reaching for the young man's nose with a slobbery hand.  
>"Did she just smile?" Rapunzel asked abruptly.<br>"Mmhmm," Eugene's response was nasal-y while the baby pinched at his nose. He rolled his eyes up to meet the girl's, which glimmered with excitement. "First milestone."  
>She fairly beamed, cuddling the baby close with excitement.<p> 


	32. Chapter 32: A Busy Thanksgiving

Bright and early Thanksgiving morning, the castle was bustling. The King and Queen always donated meals to the orphanage, so there was much work to be done. To boot, all of the workers who did not live in the castle and had families were allowed the day off to spend with their families, so they were several people short.  
>Rapunzel quickly offered to help with the cooking. The grumpy cook wasn't pleased, but the others, including Emilie, were pleased to have her help in the kitchen.<br>She worked quickly and efficiently, joking with the maids and having fun as she worked. Help season this, put that over the fire pit; that in the stone oven. Bake the pies, sprinkle this with cinnamon and add sugar to that. She continued working in such a whirlwind that she didn't notice Eugene watching her until she turned to take her apron off. He snagged her around the waist, untying the stained apron for her and hanging it up before spinning her around to give her a quick kiss.  
>"Hey," she giggled, blushing.<br>"Hey, gorgeous. Wanted to catch you and steal your attention for a minute before you were off on your next mission," his grin made Rapunzel fairly melt.  
>She laughed, wiping her floury hands on her blue skirt before slipping her arms around his neck. "Well, my next mission is helping to transport the food to the orphanage. Then I can spend time with you all," she grinned. "Where's our little Rose?"<br>"Napping in the sitting-room. Your parents are watching her,"  
>"Okay," she nodded. "Do you want to come along?"<br>"We need all the help we can get," Emilie added in passing.  
>"I suppose," he nodded. "I know how excited I got for Thanksgiving when they started the tradition of donating food."<br>Rapunzel grinned, giving him an excited hug before filling both of their arms full of trays and baskets of food.

When they returned, they were full from the happy and excited smiles of the children. The King and Queen were waiting in the dining hall, Aisling in the King's lap.  
>"Thank you," Rapunzel said, reaching to scoop the brown eyed baby from her adoptive grandfather's arms. "Were you good? Oh, you're happy to see momma and father?" she grinned when Aisling's face split into a completely endearing, slobbery smile.<br>"She was very good, yes," the Queen nodded as they took their seats. Eugene slipped Aisling away from Rapunzel so he could feed her. "How were the children at the orphanage?"  
>"Very excited, and very thankful," Rapunzel laughed, flicking at some dried mashed potatoes she'd accidentally spilled on her skirt earlier in the day.<p>

Over supper, the Queen suggested that they list and discuss some things that they were thankful for: a wonderful idea for a yearly tradition.  
>The King started. "I'm grateful for another successful year ruling Corona, and my wonderful family." he slipped an arm around the Queen's shoulders.<br>"Well, I'm thankful that we had a peaceful year, as far as wars go - or the lack thereof - and for our family. Especially that my little girl's sitting across from me," the Queen smiled at her daughter, and Rapunzel blushed.  
>"I-I'm thankful for all of you. And I'm thankful Eugene is here, and I'm thankful that we have little miss Aisling."<br>Eugene grinned down at the child in his arms for a moment. "I guess I'll repeat what everyone else has already said. I'm thankful we're war-free, and that I don't have nightmares nearly as often anymore. I'm thankful for my beautiful wife and daughter," he paused to cast a teasing smile at Rapunzel, who was even more embarrassed now, "and for your acceptance of having me as your son-in-law."  
>"We're eternally grateful for you saving her, so having you as a son-in-law is perfectly excellent," the Queen nodded.<br>"That's a tale we'll have to tell Aisling one day. How a thief broke into your tower, ended up blackmailed by a tiny girl with seventy feet of hair and a frying pan, then ending up dying for said girl and being resurrected by a single tear."  
>She giggled. "And all because of a dream. And fate,"<br>"Or a horse."  
>"Oh, come on, Eugene. Not that argument again," she elbowed him, and he chuckled.<p>

Later, full of pie and sleepy from tryptophan, they all retired to bed. Rapunzel sung quietly to Aisling and rocked her to sleep while Eugene dressed for bed.  
>Finally, the little child drifted off to sleep, clutching her blanket to her chubby cheek and sucking her thumb. Rapunzel eased her into her cradle and tucked another blanket around her before going to bed herself. Her husband immediately pulled her to his side, and she giggled. "Love you."<br>"Love you too, gorgeous."  
>She slipped an arm over his torso and curled up, sighing contentedly. Last Thanksgiving, he'd been away in Al'vae. Actually, last Thanksgiving, she had been under the impression that he had been taken prisoner of war and then murdered. This year, they were married and had adopted Aisling. Yes, this year was <em>much <em>better, despite the disappointment of a miscarriage.  
>"I'm thankful for you being here. Last Thanksgiving, I thought you were dead. So falling asleep in your arms is one of the best things ever," she mumbled into his shoulder, suddenly feeling a little shy.<br>She didn't open her eyes, but instead felt his reaction in how he tightened his arms around her and started stroking her short, choppy hair. She felt his lips brush against her forehead, and she finally peeled an eye open, grinning before plopping a soft goodnight kiss on his lips.  
>"And I'm thankful to have such a precious girl to hold -and for such a sweet little girl to call our daughter. Now <em>that <em>was fate." he whispered.  
>She laughed through her nose. "You can't blame or credit Maximus for that."<br>"Only reason I'm not," he teased quietly.


	33. Chapter 33: Aisling's First Christmas

"Wake up! It's Aisling's first Christmas!" Rapunzel straddled her husband, bouncing on his midsection and shaking his shoulders eagerly.  
>He peeled a brown eye open. He highly doubted that his daughter was as excited about this as his wife was. "Is she even up yet?"<br>"Up, fed, and dressed," she laughed.  
>He nodded, yawning and stretching before shooing the eager princess out of bed so he could get up and dressed.<br>Rapunzel scooped Aisling out of her cradle, kissing her forehead. The child smiled and waved her hands excitedly, something she did anytime anyone paid attention to her. "Yes, you're our little darling, aren't you?" she touched her forehead against the baby's, and her daughter giggled, grabbing at her nose.

As soon as Eugene was dressed, they hurried to the dining hall, where the King and Queen were waiting. The Queen immediately took the little girl and held her while they ate. The child, who was just learning to crawl, was grabby; wreaking havoc by trying to pull the plates off of the table and flapping a cloth napkin, babbling quietly and giggling to herself. Rapunzel was as enthralled by the child as her father was, and when they realized they were both watching her, they traded knowing smiles and resumed watching the little brown-haired child.

When they had eaten, they all went to sit around the large pine in the middle of the sitting-room.  
>"Do you see that huge thing?" Eugene pointed to the tree, directing Aisling's attention to the decorated pine. She clapped her chubby hands and bounced on her bottom. Before anyone else, they gave Aisling her gifts: a lovely little dress and a few stuffed toys. The child studied them carefully, feeling the fabric and yarn textures and cooing quietly before turning her attention to the simple brown paper that had covered the gifts - the crinkling noises that came from the paper were far more interesting than her new toys! After the adults exchanged gifts, they all settled in the sitting-room, watching Aisling play. Rapunzel and Eugene curled up on a couch and read one of their new books - an adventure novel. The King and Queen were content to talk quietly and drink tea.<br>In the afternoon, after Aisling was fed and napping, Rapunzel asked Eugene to go outside with her to play in the snow.

She may be an adult, but she had missed out on playing in snow for the first eighteen years of her life; she was making up for lost time. Plus, she _loved_ the cold snow and how it made the landscape look!  
>"Hmm...it's cold, though," Eugene said. "It's nice and cozy in here." He was partly teasing her, just to see her get irritated. He didn't mind the cold as much anymore as he acted like he did.<br>"I love the cold!" Rapunzel threw back, but then she grinned. He was generally quite jealous of her chameleon. "Well, if you don't want to, I suppose I'll get Pascal-"  
>"Oh, c'mon." he gave her a look that told her he knew she'd said that on purpose, and she laughed.<br>He'd never admit it, but he didn't mind freezing his toes off as long as he got to watch his girl enjoying herself. They bundled up and went out to the courtyard, where the snow tended to drift the deepest. Rapunzel immediately got down to the business of building a snowman; he watched her until she caught his affectionate gaze.  
>"What?" she asked, turning her attention away from the ball of snow she was rolling so she could meet his warm eyes.<br>"O-oh, um-" he cleared his throat. "Nothing."  
>She grinned, her cheeks growing slightly warmer as she realized how gentle of a gaze he was giving her. "Aren't you going to help?"<br>"Sure," he nodded, slightly flustered. "Just lost in thought."  
>When he knelt in the snow beside her, she kissed him on the cheek just to see his face grow redder. "You can start on the middle section."<p>

After they had finished, they shook the snow from their clothes and cloaks and hurried back inside, stomping feeling back into their toes. As soon as they arrived back in the sitting-room, rubbing their hands together to warm them up, they were greeted by gleeful, chameleon-esque noises. Rapunzel glanced up and saw Pascal hanging from the doorframe, the same color as the wood. He clung a sprig of mistletoe with his tail.  
>"He's been creating chaos throughout the castle. I don't know where he even found that," the Queen called from where she sat.<br>Rapunzel immediately tried to leave in order to find a step ladder so she could retrieve and reprimand the chameleon, but Eugene caught her hand, grinning.  
>"Give him a doozy of a kiss and he'll quit, I bet," the handsome prince consort gave her an impish grin, and she giggled, blushing as she glanced towards her parents, who were both watching. Aisling was crawling clumsily across the floor, and the King averted his gaze to his adoptive granddaughter, suppressing a smile. Tsking her tongue when Pascal impatiently shook the mistletoe, she stood up on tiptoe and caught Eugene by surprise.<p>

When their lips parted, he chuckled, glancing up at the doorframe where Pascal, now pink, hid his face.  
>"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? And it worked, too," he met her pretty green eyes and couldn't resist kissing the tip of her freckled nose before nodding towards Pascal, who had dropped the mistletoe on the floor.<br>She laughed, scrunching her nose. "You're awful, but it was nice, yes."  
>He grinned teasingly, slipping his arms comfortably around her waist. "Geez, if it takes a <em>frog's<em> goading-"  
>"Chameleon," she sighed dramatically, and he laughed. Then, she felt a slight tug at her skirt. Glancing down, she saw Aisling peering up at her from under thick, dark bangs. She smiled, bending to scoop up the irresistible baby. "Are you feeling left out, little Aisling Rose?" the baby laughed and smiled, and Rapunzel cuddled her to her chest a moment before kissing her cheek. Eugene kissed the baby's other cheek, and Aisling laughed again, swinging around to look at her father.<p> 


	34. Chapter 34: Eire

It was March once more in the wonderful kingdom of Corona. Aisling was eight months old, and Eugene's work at the woodshop had not yet begun for the year.  
>The King requested Eugene go on a trip with him to the kingdom of Eire. The King and Queen were headed off for a business trip relating to trade, and he wanted Eugene to go due to his training.<br>"It's essential for you to know how to discuss trade deals with other kingdoms, and most everyone knows that the people of Eire are the least easiest to deal with." the King explained.  
>"I have to go in order to learn, but they're jerks who can't make deals? Makes sense."<br>"If you can handle them, you can handle any other country, I can guarantee you that," the King said. "Better to first learn with a disagreeable country than with a very tolerant and accepting country and then not understand how to handle the disagreeable countries later on."  
>He sighed. He knew the King was right, but gosh. A little bit of a heads-up would've been nice. They were leaving the day after tomorrow, and he <em>just now <em>decided to tell him to come with?  
>"How long will we be gone? A little heads-up would've been great, by the way." he didn't mean the comment to sound quite as snarky as it had ended up being.<br>"We will be gone approximately three weeks round-trip," the King flashed him a glance to let him know that he most certainly did not appreciate his tone of voice.  
>"I'll think about it. And I'll talk it over with Rapunzel, too," he added. The King had called him privately to his office, so his wife didn't know. Or maybe she <em>did - <em>maybe he was the last one to know about this!  
>"Okay. We'll expect your answer in the morning, but I do hope you will come. This would be invaluable to your training to become king," he nodded, turning back to his papers and allowing Eugene to leave.<p>

He wandered into their bedroom, sighing and rubbing his head, which had started to ache already. Rapunzel was in the nursery, putting Aisling to sleep. She had just recently moved to the nursery, now that she didn't need to be fed through the night and was sleeping through the night regularly.  
>When she came to the bedroom, untying her thin robe that covered her nightdress, she smiled. "What did Father want to talk with you about?"<br>"Well...you know the trip they're going on to Eire soon?"  
>"Mhm?" she bustled to hang her robe up and then went to make sure Pascal was curled up on his pillow as usual.<br>"They want me to go; they say it will be good for my training."  
>She turned, mildly surprised. "I'm assuming you are going, then? It's a really short notice, though."<br>"I know. He didn't appreciate it when I brought that up," he chuckled. "I don't know. I don't want to go, but I suppose I _should_. I don't want to leave you all alone, though."  
>"Eugene," she laughed. "I have Aisling, and-and all of the people who work here. I wouldn't be alone. How long would you be gone?"<br>"Three weeks, supposedly." he collapsed into bed, and Rapunzel perched beside him, rubbing her fingers through his hair.  
>"You should go, but it's up to you, of course."<br>He groaned into his pillow. "I used to be good at making split-second decisions."  
>She laughed. "Losing your touch?"<br>"When it means leaving my wife and daughter for three weeks, I guess so."  
>Rapunzel bent to kiss the back of his head. "We'll be fine, I promise."<p>

* * *

><p>Eugene did as was requested of him, and the weeks flew by. Rapunzel was so busy that she barely had any time to miss anyone - at least, until the evenings, when things slowed down and she had time to sit. That was when she couldn't wait for the beginning of April, which was when Eugene was set to come back home - as well as her parents.<br>The morning of the day he was to arrive home, Rapunzel took Aisling for a walk around the town square. She had nothing else to do, and couldn't stand sitting around in wait for the ship's arrival.

Sometime into their walk, two guards passed by the princess and her daughter, and they were followed by two more.  
>Rapunzel gazed after them curiously, wondering what was going on. A moment of fear surged through her, and she caught sight of two more. Pushing through the crowd towards them, she saw none other than her parents.<br>Thank goodness! She'd been afraid that something had happened to them!  
>"Mother! Father!" she called excitedly. Situating Aisling on her hip and grabbing a handful of her skirt in the other hand, she raced towards her parents to give them one-armed hugs.<br>"Hello, dear! Did you miss us?" the Queen smiled, and Rapunzel grinned.  
>"I was a little worried when I saw all of the guards," she explained laughingly.<br>"Well, we're home now! How's this little sweetheart?" she slipped Aisling from Rapunzel's arms, and the child grinned, grabbing at the Queen's necklace.  
>"She's mannerly and just a dear, as always," she smiled, watching her daughter interact with her mother.<br>"No greeting for me?"  
>Rapunzel swung around to see Eugene approaching, a goofy grin across his face.<br>She laughed, picking up her skirts once more to hurry into his arms. "I missed you!"  
>He chuckled. "I missed you too."<br>She buried her face in his shoulder and drank in the scent of his shirt. He smelled of an odd mix of salty seawater and fresh air.  
>"How was the trip?" she asked, looking up at him with a smile. He ducked to pull her into a kiss before answering her.<br>"It was pretty good, and I did learn quite a bit, but I'm glad it's over," he chuckled, casting a glance towards her parents.  
>Catching said glance, she laughed. "You're awful."<br>He winked. "I know."  
>The King and Queen approached, and promptly deposited Aisling into Rapunzel's arms. "We're going to head back to the castle and get some rest, alright, darling?"<br>She nodded, reaching to kiss her parents' cheeks. "Okay. I'll see you at dinner, I suppose?"  
>The King nodded, slipping an arm around her mother's waist as they left.<br>Rapunzel redirected her attention to Aisling. "And look who's home!"  
>She grinned, but she'd already caught sight of her father. Reaching her arms out towards him, she wiggled her fingers and babbled, giving him a slobbery-faced smile that melted his heart.<br>"C'mere, you. How's my little Rose?" he chuckled, taking the baby from Rapunzel and burying his nose in the child's neck before kissing it. The baby giggled again and squirmed, reaching to grab at his face and watch him talk.  
>"She's intrigued by speaking, now. She's probably going to start trying to talk by herself soon, don't you think?" Rapunzel asked, reaching to stroke her baby's hair.<br>"Probably," he smiled and made a face at Aisling, who mimicked it.  
>"You're going to teach her to be as terrible as you are," Rapunzel warned jokingly, and he shrugged, grabbing her by the waist with his free hand so he could pull her close to his other side. She laughed, but leaned up against him and slipped an arm around him.<br>"But she'll be darn cute being as terrible as I am," he made another face, which the baby immediately tried to mimic again. She couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head.  
>"Alright...let's go home before you teach her any bad habits," she teased, kissing his jaw.<p> 


	35. Chapter 35: Floating Lanterns

Aisling was now eleven months old and able to say a few things. She was a very quiet, well-behaved child, but always had a giggle or a chubby-cheeked smile in store for anyone who paid attention to her. She was tottering about with some trouble, but her favorite activity was dancing. Her father would bend over, holding her upright, and let her stand on his feet as he swayed into a dance slow enough she could keep her balance. Rapunzel had painted this adorable scene at least twice.

On Rapunzel's 21st birthday, Eugene had the day planned out, once more. He'd taken the day off from work and was excited to show her the gift he'd toiled away at for hours; but there was one thing: getting Rapunzel to let her parents watch Aisling.

The baby was more than happy to be with her adoptive grandparents, and vice versa, but Rapunzel was less than eager to leave the child for a day.  
>"We haven't had a day to ourselves since before we adopted Aisling. It'll be fun,"<br>"But she..." the princess nibbled on her lip, trying to think of an argument. She didn't really _have _a good argument; she just was nervous about letting her child with her parents an entire day.  
>"Your parents are more than happy to watch her. I already asked them," he said.<br>"So I'm the only one who hasn't a clue what you have planned today?"  
>"That's why it's called a surprise, dear," he chuckled, kissing her cheek. "She'll be okay, I promise."<br>Rapunzel slipped behind the dressing-curtain, making a very un-princesslike grunt to show her neutrality on the matter.

The girl eventually gave in and left Aisling in her parents' care, promising to be back in time for the lantern festival. They nodded, but said not to worry about it.  
>"First stop: Attilla's cupcake shop." Eugene said this with bated breath. They hadn't seen the thugs in ages. Rapunzel's eyes lit up, and an excited smile spread across her face. Grabbing his hand, she fairly dragged him to the shop.<br>As planned, the thugs were waiting for her, and greeted the petite girl with raucous yells and big hugs all around. Big-Nose Thug's wife shyly showed Rapunzel her baby, which was an eight-month-old, rambunctious little boy. The child eagerly engaged in a game of peek-a-boo with Rapunzel, and pretty soon, the boy was twisting around in his mother's arms, getting quite a few of the thugs in on the game. Eugene watched, shaking his head and fighting to hide a smile. The young lady's enthusiastic mood was contagious.  
>And as always, there were cupcakes for everyone. Rapunzel made her way over to Eugene, holding a cupcake out to him. He took it, smiling at her. "Enjoying yourself?"<br>"Mhm!" she grinned, her mouth full. Gulping, her smile faded and she looked guiltily at him. "Maybe we should go home to check up on Aisling-"  
>He shook his head. "The Queen's orders, you can't come back to check on her. She had a day all planned out with our Rose."<br>She clucked her tongue, but visibly relaxed. "If I find out you're just saying all this-"  
>"I'm not. Eat your cupcake, Blondie," he teased, gesturing to the icing that had begun to ooze a bit. He took a bite out of his own treat.<br>When they finished up, Rapunzel saw a pinkish smear across Eugene's upper lip. Her tall, tough husband...with pink icing around his mouth. _That _was a priceless image. "C'mere."  
>"What?"<br>She laughed before bouncing up on tiptoe so she could remove the icing from his lip with a quick kiss. He gave her a surprised grin, the icing still unbeknownst to him.  
>"You had icing on your lip."<br>"So the only time you're gonna kiss me today is when I have remnants of _food _on my face? That's-"  
>She giggled, swatting his arm gently. "You're <em>terrible<em>! C'mon, Hook-hand has a story he wants to tell me. You've _got _to hear it!"

After they left Attilla's cupcake shop, they went to the art store, where Rapunzel got mounds of chalk.  
>"Please tell me this isn't all going to your painting-room," Eugene grumbled under his breath, not looking forward to hauling all of it back to the castle.<br>"No, silly! We'll let some of the townsfolk draw on the cobblestones, like we did on my eighteenth birthday!" she grinned. "Help me carry it all, please?"  
>Being the prince consort he was, of <em>course <em>he took almost all of the packages of chalk, but it's not like he enjoyed it. She trotted along beside him, clearly pleased, and he managed to elbow her teasingly.  
>"Next time, the townsfolk can just go into the store and pick up a package. These are heavy!" he said, half-teasing.<br>"Oh, c'mon. You're big and strong enough to carry this all," she giggled, reaching to peck his jaw.  
>In the town square, children soon gathered, asking the princess to show them how to draw on the cobblestone. Soon, some kids were even asking Eugene - who hadn't the least bit of artistic talent - and after that, even more of them could be found drawing, along with some adults. Rapunzel drew a huge, swirly sun representing Corona's symbol, and drew some of the townsfolk around it in her childlike style. Eugene saw a simplified version of the King and Queen in amongst them, as well as he, Aisling, and the princess herself. A group of redheaded, pigtailed girls were included, and several others.<p>

The festivities continued all day long. Rapunzel led Eugene into a dance when a few men, carrying instruments, started an impromptu melody. Pretty soon, the entire town square was engaged in a lively celebration, and the fact that their lost princess was in amongst the group made everything even better!  
>Finally, a town crier yelled, "To the boats! The lantern festival is about to start!"<br>Rapunzel gasped, whirling to Eugene with wide eyes. "Oh no! We have to get back to the castle-"  
>"Let's go to the river instead," he grinned.<br>She gave him a confused look. "I'd _love _to, but we have to get back for the release-"  
>"Nope. I talked it over with your parents, and they said it would be fine."<br>She smiled. They hadn't been out there since her eighteenth birthday. "Okay. I'm not going to complain!"  
>He grinned. "Thought you wouldn't. C'mon, let's hurry!"<br>The ex-thief snagged her hand and helped her weave quickly and undetected through the crowd, until they finally arrived at the docks. People flooded to the rental boats, but Eugene led Rapunzel past the public dock and into the private dock for the King and Queen.  
>"Where are we going?"<br>"You'll see," he cast a grin over his shoulder, so she kept following him.  
>Finally, they reached a small boat much like the rentals.<br>"Tada," he presented it with a flourish, making Rapunzel laugh.  
>"Did you...make this?"<br>"Yup. That's where all _these _came from," he gestured to the newer callouses on the palms of his hands.  
>She went over, tracing the intricate carving. Flowers and lanterns mingled, but a small "E&amp;R" carved roughly into the side of it caught her attention.<br>"It's beautiful," she murmured. Turning around, she grinned at him. "It's _beautiful_!" she tackled him into a hug, and he laughed, slipping his arms comfortably around her.  
>"Glad you like it," he chuckled.<br>"You're amazing."  
>"Tell me something I don't know," he teased, kissing her nose. "Only the best for an amazing girl who became a thief herself three years ago."<br>"I...?"  
>He chuckled, stepping carefully into the boat and helping her in. "Well, you <em>stole <em>my heart..."  
>"Oh, was <em>that <em>ever corny," she giggled, her face growing red. "But thank you."

He rowed them out into the river just as the King and Queen released the first lantern. As the sky came alive as more and more lanterns filled the night, Rapunzel watched with the same rapt awe as she had the very first time she had seen them.  
>"I'll never get over how amazing this is," she said quietly, turning back to catch Eugene's affectionate gaze.<br>He smiled. "I know. It _is _pretty amazing,"  
>Rapunzel glanced back up at the sky for a minute before turning back to her husband, a teasing glimmer appearing in her wide eyes. She took his vest collar in her hands and before he could react, grabbed him into a fairly fervent kiss. Eugene, of course - once he came to his senses - returned it, and once their lips parted, he bumped his forehead up against hers, grinning.<br>"I wanted to finish what you never did three years ago," she giggled.  
>"Well, I knew the Stabbingtons were over on that shore waiting to wring my neck, and I wanted your first kiss to be better than that," he winked, catching her hands into his.<br>Rapunzel smiled, turning her attention back to the lanterns once more. They danced in the night sky, filling even the darkest corners of the kingdom with light. Twirling and intertwining in the sky, they wove ideas for new dreams and lifted spirits. Even the most grumpy of individuals -also known as the cook - had to at least realize the beauty of the celebration.


	36. Chapter 36:Fireflies

**A/N: I am so, so, ****_so_**** sorry, guys! It's been far too long. Pair writer's block and busy-ness with a laptop that doesn't want to work and you get a very irritated writer and a near-deserted fanfiction. Ugh. Anyway, without further ado, (and hopefully without any laptop issues *glares at screen*), here's the next chapter =D**

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><p><strong><em>"Mother! Mother, look!" I bounded over to Mother, my long blond hair tickling my ankles and following me like a shadow. I held my chubby hands in front of me, cupped carefully around something I'd found.<br>"What is it, flower?" Mother seemed preoccupied with something on her hand, but I quickly showed her the precious thing anyway. A firefly had made its way into my tower, and I had spent an hour trying to catch it.  
>"Bug! Bug!" I felt my face pull into a wide, toothy smile.<br>"Mmhmm," Mother glanced at the critter that was carefully cradled in my four-year-old hands. "Yes. It's a firefly."  
>I knew my eyes widened with curiosity. "It's so-o-o pretty. Can I keep it?"<br>"No," Mother was quick to shake her head, her black curls bouncing back and forth. "It would die, flower, and you don't want to kill it, do you?"  
>"No, Mother." I shook my head, my eyes widening even more, this time with horror and fear.<br>"That's a good girl. Give it to me, and I'll let it go." She held her hands out and I tried to carefully deposit the creature into her hands, but it fell on the floor instead. Mother quickly stepped forward, presumably to catch it, but she instead stepped on it. With a gasp - I knew now that it was likely staged - she backed away and examined the remaining pieces of the firefly. "Oh, look at what you've done, Rapunzel..."  
>I gasped, pressing my hands to my mouth. I had been hoping that the insect would be my first and only friend, and look what I'd done to it - "I'd" killed it. Certainly, it was Mother Gothel's fault, but at the time, I thought it my fault because, firstly, Mother Gothel said so, and secondly, because if I had not caught it, it would still be alive.<br>Mother grasped my shoulder with a sense of urgency. "I'm feeling a little sickly, now, flower. Why don't you sing for me while I brush your hair?"  
>"Yes, Mommy," I whimpered, still staring at the deceased firefly on the floor. <em>**

Rapunzel watched her three year old daughter run gleefully in the castle garden, her chubby hands outstretched as she watched the fireflies filling the summer air. Her semi-long brown hair fell in her eyes and she giggled, twirling in a circle and landing in the middle of some grass, dizzied.  
>"You were right, she's going <em>nuts<em> over these bugs," Eugene plopped in the grass beside his wife, and she grinned absentmindedly.  
>"I knew she would." Standing up, she caught a firefly in her hand. "Aisling, sweetie, c'mere!"<br>Hearing the excitement in her mother's voice, she raced over, grabbing at her mother's blue skirt and giggling. Rapunzel bent, holding her hands out carefully. The little girl peered, awe-struck, and then glanced up at her mother. "Fire-bug!"  
>"Yes, sweetheart. Firefly. Here, hold your hand out, baby." the child did so, and Rapunzel gently slid the insect onto her hand. When it crawled across her palm, she squealed. "Tickles, mommy! It tickles!"<br>Rapunzel laughed. "Does it? Now be careful, don't squish it!"  
>She nodded, holding it right in front of her face and giggling when it illuminated her brown eyes. "I wanna keep it!"<br>Rapunzel froze, glancing at Eugene as memories flooded her. Hadn't she promised Aisling _everything _she'd never had? How could she tell her that no, she couldn't keep the firefly, in a less graphic way that Gothel had?  
>Eugene came to the rescue, crouching beside Aisling. "We'll get a jar to keep it in for awhile, but you have to let it go later, okay?"<br>"Why?" she asked innocently, almost on the verge of giving him a pout.  
>"It would miss its family! I bet it has a mommy and daddy waiting for it," he handled the situation effortlessly.<br>"Okay," she nodded, and he left to retrieve a small jar from the kitchen. When he returned, she clumsily deposited the creature into the container and watched it a moment before crying, "Let's catch more!"

Rapunzel and Eugene were quick to participate in the requested action. Rapunzel basked in her daughter's excitement, happy to share an activity she'd longed to enjoy as a child.  
>When Aisling practically collapsed of exhaustion, Rapunzel and Eugene took her inside and tucked her in bed with Pascal, who was her official bedtime buddy. After they closed the door, Rapunzel went back outside to release the fireflies. Instead of letting them go right away, however, she plopped down cross-legged in the grass, examining the captive bugs curiously. Sure, she'd seen them before, but never up close like this.<p>

She lost track of how long she sat watching them, and soon, Eugene came and sat down beside her, yawning. He was already in his nightclothes...or maybe she'd just been outside that long.  
>"Coming to bed tonight?" he teased gently, and she smiled, flushing.<br>"Yes, sorry. Just..."  
>"Lost in thought?"<br>"Yep," she glanced at him and widened her smile.  
>"About what?" was naturally his next question.<br>"Oh, just remembering the first time I caught a firefly. I'm glad we got to share tonight with our little girl, this memory."  
>"Your memory wasn't the best, I take it?" he asked.<br>"Well..." she laughed, pulling the scrap of fabric from the mouth of the jar and letting the bugs go. "Gothel killed it and said it was my fault."  
>"Ouch," he winced, but he was watching the fireflies zigzag and dance up into the sky, dispersing.<br>"What about you?" she asked, leaning up against him and setting the jar on her lap.  
>"First time I saw a firefly up-close, I was beating up some older kid at the orphanage. He'd pulled the wings off of it." he rubbed his jaw and then glanced down at Rapunzel, slipping his arms snugly around her. "Didn't end too well for me <em>or <em>the bug, but my point was made, I think."  
>"How old were you?"<br>"Five. He was twelve."  
>Not sure whether to laugh or grimace at her husband's previous bad-judgement, she bit her lip. "Yikes."<br>"Yeah," he chuckled. "Well, at least our kiddos will have good memories of them."  
>"Kiddos, <em>plural<em>?" she turned to look at him curiously. Had she missed something?  
>He paused, clearing his throat. "Someday. I hope. If you want."<br>Laughing at his obvious discomfort, she planted a kiss on his jaw. "Someday."


	37. Chapter 37: Blue Christmas

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews, follows, favorites, EVERYTHING. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!  
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><p>"No. Absolutely not."<br>"Why not? C'mon...it'll be fun!"  
>"Singing outside people's doorsteps in the freezing cold does <em>not <em>sound like fun."  
>Rapunzel tsked her tongue. To Eugene, it seemed, caroling was a capitol offense that should be met with the utmost stubbornness.<br>"They're going to the orphanage to carol, Eugene, wouldn't you want to give those kids something to smile about?"  
>"The other carolers will do that," he said indifferently, though he knew he was being selfish at this point.<br>Huffing, Rapunzel stood in front of him with her hands on her hips, a determined look pasted firmly across her face. "Eugene. C'mon. You know that's not true."

"I just think we should be with our own daughter for..you know...the day before Christmas Eve." Eugene gulped. That was a really bad excuse.  
>"She's in bed, it's eight o'clock, and they'll be here in fifteen minutes."<p>

It had been six months since their decision that they wanted more children, and the couple had yet to become parents to another child. They were actually trying to have one of their own, but had recently given up and were planning to adopt sometime. Rapunzel had tried her best, downing packet after packet of herbs that would keep her healthy and aid in pregnancy, but their efforts were met with disappointment. Since their decision to give up on the idea, Eugene had been pretty down in the dumps. Secretly, Rapunzel was grasping at straws and hoping for some Christmas miracle - not that she minded adoption; no, she _loved _the idea of giving another needy child a home, but...she also had kind of wanted to know what it would feel like to have a baby - plus, she'd always been curious as to what Eugene's child would be like.

"Come on, Eugene. Please? If not, I guess I'll go by myself. But it'd be fun to go caroling together," she gave him a convincing pout that she knew he couldn't resist.  
>He stood from his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, regarding Rapunzel's expression. "Trying to manipulate your spouse via facial expressions isn't nice, Rapunzel."<br>She half laughed, half groaned. "Oh, come on. I'm not going to give up 'til you're out of this funk you're in."  
>Squeezing past her, he headed for their bedroom door. "What funk?"<p>

Huh-uh. No way was he getting out of this conversation again. Sprinting to beat him to the bedroom door and slipping neatly between him and the door handle, she blocked it successfully. "You and I both know _what_, Eugene."  
>Shaking his head, he met her gaze evenly. "Well, if you want to go caroling, nobody's stopping you. But singing songs on repeat in the cold isn't going to get me out of a <em>funk<em>, so I'll be reading in the library. Okay?"

She huffed with frustration, but let him slip past him. "Fine. I'll be back later." She would go caroling, yes, but she was doing it to try to curb her sudden urge to cry. It was her fault he was so disappointed. _She _was a disappointment, and she couldn't stand herself, let alone seeing him being so down in the dumps.

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><p>When she came back home before midnight, she was cold, but satisfied with the children's happiness from the carolers' visit to the orphanage. Everyone else was asleep, it seemed, so she popped her head into Aisling's room to check up on her and watch her sleep for a few minutes before heading to bed herself. Eugene had his back to the door, luckily, so she was able to use a candle's light to see in order to dress in her nightgown. When she slipped into bed, she turned on her side with her face to the door, curling into a ball. She wanted to talk with Eugene, but he was making it so...so hard! He evaded the conversation every single time she tried to talk with him. Maybe she could catch him bright and early in the morning, if she was feeling well enough to, considering her recent odd dizziness in the mornings, which brought nausea. Sighing, she decided she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.<br>"Eugene?" she breathed. When there was no immediate response, only a slight shift of the mattress, she bit her lip. Darn it. "Eugene, I'm sorry. You were so looking forward to the possibility of a baby, and I screwed it up. I hate that I can't give you that. I'm so sorry, it's all my fault and I-I wish I could do something for you to make you feel better. I wish I could talk to you, but every time I try, you avoid it like the plague and I understand why you wouldn't want to talk, but...it's so complicated! And I don't even see the use in talking right now, because you're asleep!" she curled into a tighter ball and buried her face into her pillow, allowing hot tears to drip onto its case.

She felt the mattress bounce, and Eugene's strong arm slipped around her waist and pulled her up against him. "I'm awake. Don't cry, sweetheart, please don't. Don't beat yourself up about it. I shouldn't have been so sure that you'd conceive, anyway. I'm sorry I haven't talked to you about it - it's selfish of me. I didn't want to talk because I was afraid I'd start crying, and how manly is that, exactly? I didn't stop to think that maybe you'd need to talk, too. I'm sorry. I'm more at fault than you are, it's my own fault for being in a mood."  
>She pulled away from him to sit up and look at him. "But I'm the reason why you can't even have a kid of your own! I'm the reason why-"<br>He sat up as well, shoving a hand through his messy hair in frustration before putting the same hand on the back of her head, pushing his lips against hers just long enough to shut her up. "I should have seen the logical side of things, Rapunzel, so don't worry about me and my attitude, okay? I'll fix myself. You don't have to fix me. Aren't you even upset?"  
>Her eyes teared. "More upset than I let on," she admitted. "But I know it was foolish of me to hope to begin with. So I want to help you feel better."<br>Eugene slid his arms around her. "C'mere. You don't have to help me, okay? I'll figure things out for myself. Just focus on _you_. Okay? It is not your fault."  
>"Yes it-"<br>"Is not._"  
><em>Rapunzel bit her lips to stop her tears. "I'm sorry anyway."  
>Chuckling, he shook his head and pulled her closer. "I'm sorry for being a bullheaded moron. Next time, just clock me upside the head with a frying pan."<br>She couldn't help but grin. "I won't hit you...with a frying pan. I might throw a book or two at you, though."  
>Eugene laughed in surprise. "Dually noted."<br>She buried her face into his chest and slipped her skinny arms around him for a few minutes before pulling away again. "So..we're in better agreement now?"  
>"Yes. It's not your fault and my attitude is my own issue, but we need to learn that if one wants to talk, the other will set down whatever they're doing and <em>listen<em>."  
>She agreed, nodding. "It feels good to get that untangled and discussed."<br>"I'm glad," he rubbed his eyes. "But why don't we get to sleep? Morning comes early, and our Rose will be off the walls excited for Christmas Eve."  
>"After Christmas, will we go to the orphanage to discuss adoption, perhaps?"<br>"If you want, yes," he nodded.  
>She nodded again, lying down and burrowing underneath the blankets. She'd talk to the doctor before they went to the orphanage, just to rid herself of that last straw of hope, but she would look forward to adoption again, she decided. <p>


	38. Chapter 38: Surprise, Surprise

January came quickly. On New Year's day, Rapunzel got up bright and early to talk with the castle doctor, seeing as she'd gone way too long with her odd nausea and dizziness. She did so before her husband and daughter were even up yet; thank goodness. She'd been afraid to explain to Eugene why she was going, because he'd just started cheering up and she really didn't want to give him any false hope...right away, anyway.

At six in the morning on a cold January day, the shorthaired princess dashed down the hallways of her large castle. She threw herself through her bedroom door and on top of a lump under their thick blanket. "Eugene! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Eugene's head emerged from the blankets and he blinked tiredly at his wife's face. She had way too much energy for it being six AM. "What on earth, Rapunzel...?"

She slid onto her back beside him and grinned. "I'm two and a half months pregnant."

He was sitting up and wide awake within moments. "You're what?!"

She giggled, sitting up as well. "You heard me."

Before anyone could say or do anything else, he grabbed her face and gave her a firm, excited kiss. When he pulled away breathlessly, he didn't even try to conceal his smile. "Rapunzel, that's amazing! So amazing. Oh, honey! I can't believe-you're...!"

She threw her neck back and laughed, exposing her white neck. "Yes."

They didn't tell her parents, at Rapunzel's request. She said that if something went wrong, at least they wouldn't be upset. They did, however, discuss it lightly with Aisling, asking her what she thought of having siblings...to which, she replied eagerly, "I wan' FIVE. Thwee sisters an'... twooo bruthers."  
>To which, her parents exchanged amused - and slightly terrified, Rapunzel noticed - glances and overlapped one another in the response of "We'll see."<br>"But it be jus' like that book Daddy read wif me las' night!"  
>"Hmm...what about <em>Flynnigan Rider<em>, where he saves a family of twelve kids?"  
>She shook her head so hard that her long hair sprayed out around her and covered her face. "Nuh-uh! That's cw<em>razy<em>!"  
>Rapunzel laughed, reaching to hug her little Rose. "You're a silly goose."<br>"And what's wrong with _Flynn Rider_?" Eugene asked teasingly, reaching to tuck her hair behind her ears.  
>"Nuffin," she grinned, displaying the dimples on her chubby cheeks. <p>

That night, Rapunzel couldn't sleep. Her excitement had evaporated and left behind panic. What if something went wrong, just like the last time? What if it was just some weird fluke and the doctor was wrong? She didn't _feel _like he was wrong, but what did she know? And what if something went wrong later on? During the delivery? What if the baby was too weak? What...  
>She paced around the floors of the castle before finally arriving in the sitting-room to gaze out of the floor-to-ceiling window, surveying the kingdom. There was nary a light to be seen, but the stars were out full-force. She grinned wryly as she remembered the old chant she'd said endless times as a young child.<br>_Star light, star bright, star I see tonight  
>I wish I may, I wish I might- <em>  
>"What's a gorgeous lady like you doing up so late?" she heard this just as she felt strong arms wrap carefully around her shoulders, but she jumped all the same.<br>"Eugene!" she gasped. "You scared me!"  
>"Sorry," his white-toothed smile stood out in the darkness. "Are you okay? I mean, not because I scared you, but..."<br>She bit her lip and turned her gaze back to the outside world. "I'm terrified," she mumbled, placing a hand subconsciously across her stomach.  
>"The baby?" he asked, catching the gesture and placing his hand over hers.<br>"Mhmm," she was going to chew a hole through her own bottom lip if she didn't stop. "I'm just scared that something goes wrong. Oh, Eugene, what if something _does _go wrong? What if the baby...what if...It...it _can't_ die! And...maybe this was a mistake. Maybe we should've-"  
>"Hey," he turned her around so she had to look at him. "Where's my optimistic girl?"<br>She gave him a _look_. "Aren't you even worried in the least?"  
>"Rapunzel, I'm scared to death. For both you <em>and <em>the baby. But we can't worry about that 'til the time comes. Okay?"  
>She licked her lips and dropped her gaze to her feet. "Yeah. But-"<br>"No buts," he tried to give her a cocky, full-of-himself grin to assure her that she didn't need to worry; one Flynn Rider could've pulled off, but it ended up being a shaky grin like the kind you give when you're about to cry but have to smile anyway. Darn it anyhow. He tipped her chin up so she had to meet his eyes. "It'll be okay, honey. Plus, you can't worry and stress out, or something _will _go wrong."  
>She wanted to say he was wrong, but realized he definitely had a point. "Okay."<br>"C'mere," he kissed her cheek and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Everything will go alright, and in about seven months, we'll have a new addition."  
>She couldn't help but smile - she missed the days when Aisling was a wee baby, and was eager to have another in her arms - of course, she still went to the orphanage and got to hold babies a lot over there, but it just wasn't <em>the same<em>. You couldn't take them home and cuddle them and give them all your love, for one. "I can't wait."  
>"That's a better attitude, precious girl." he hugged her just a bit tighter before letting her go.<p> 


	39. Chapter 39: France

**A/N: Thanks again for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites - they always make my day! And to the lovely person who sent a guest review, if you're reading this, I'd like to thank you! This chapter was inspired by your second suggestion. (:  
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><p>March came quickly, and Rapunzel was about four months along when her mother asked her to come with her and the King on a quick, two-week-long trip to France, to conference with Queen Belle.<br>When Rapunzel talked it over with her husband that night, he told her that it would be a good opportunity to tell them that she was pregnant, but she probably should go anyway. It wasn't like he wanted to be without her for two weeks, but he also knew that she'd have to go on one of these trips sooner or later. He had already, after all, and he wasn't even true royalty - simply a consort due to his marriage with Rapunzel.

So when they left in the carriage on a sunny March morning, Rapunzel could barely leave her little family. Aisling was _not _pleased with her departure, and started crying and throwing a tantrum. She got her calmed down just long enough to say goodbye, and then gave Eugene a hug, kiss, and a 'good luck' whispered in his ear before she had to leave with her parents.  
>She was, quite frankly, surprised that neither of her parents had figured out her condition yet. She was starting to show, and was making sure her corsets were loose enough to accommodate for the changes.<p>

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><p>On the fifth day of their travels, when they finally arrived at the castle, they were greeted with open arms and a banquet. Queen Belle, who was about thirteen years older than Rapunzel and coincidentally expectant with her and King Adam's seventh child, whisked Rapunzel off to show her their library while King Adam and Rapunzel's father and mother discussed current events.<br>As she was talking about the books, she kept glancing at Rapunzel, a smile spreading slowly across her face with each glance. Rapunzel looked down at her stomach and put a hand over it, embarrassed and hoping the Queen didn't notice.  
>"Are you, too?"<br>"Huh?" Rapunzel glanced up, her face growing beet red. When Belle put a hand over her own, obviously swollen stomach, she grinned sheepishly. "Yes."  
>"Oh, congratulations, dear! Is it your first child?"<br>"Well...it's complicated. I had a, um, miscarriage awhile back, and...so we adopted, and now I'm with child again." she stammered, wondering why she was so embarrassed about talking about this with an experienced woman.  
>"You don't have to be embarrassed," Belle's laugh was musical. "Come, we'll sit and read for a little while, maybe before they notice we're absent from the meeting!"<br>"Oh!" Rapunzel gasped. "I-I'd love to, but...but my parents would probably prefer it if I-"  
>Belle shook her head and grinned. "I'll cover for you. There will be plenty more discussion tomorrow, don't worry. We can attend then."<br>"Okay," Rapunzel laughed. If this _Queen _wasn't concerned, she shouldn't be either, right?  
>They read and talked about children and expectancy for several hours, until a quick knock came to the library door.<br>"Come in," Queen Belle called.  
>A shy face appeared, glancing at Rapunzel awkwardly. "Mama, dinner's ready. Papa told me to come fetch you."<br>"Alright. Thank you, dear girl!" Belle nodded, and the doe-eyed young girl hurried away, not bothering to shut the door.

At dinner, Rapunzel was ravenous. While there was plenty of food to be had, her mother cast her a ridiculing glance. "Darling, slow down! You've already loosened your corset, you mustn't eat too much or you'll ruin your figure." she hissed quietly.  
>Rapunzel set her fork down quietly, clearing her throat. "Sorry."<br>"No, it's fine, dear! Eat as much as you'd like," Belle smiled gently.  
>"Mother, father, I'd like to talk to you when we are dismissed to our rooms for the evening," Rapunzel announced quietly. She didn't really want an audience of eight for when she announced her pregnancy, even if Belle already knew.<br>Smiling, Belle nodded quietly.  
>With that, Rapunzel fairly dove headfirst into her second serving of soup and bread.<p>

That evening, when they retired to their guest bedrooms, Rapunzel pulled her parents aside.  
>"Are we not feeding you enough at home?" Rapunzel's mother asked, wide-eyed.<br>"No, you're feeding me well, but-well...that is...I'm with child."  
>Her mother's gasp echoed down the halls of the East Wing. She grabbed her into a hug. "How far along? How long have you known?"<br>"Since January, and I'm four months along." she couldn't help the eager smile that split her face. Her father was standing quietly off to the side, but when Rapunzel glanced over at him, his blue eyes were clouded with tears and he was giving her a broad smile.

After the initial excitement wore out, her parents retired to their room and Rapunzel to her own, curling up on her side and using one pillow to hug. She missed Aisling and Eugene so much! She let her hand rest on her stomach and smiled.  
>"In five months, you'll get to meet your daddy and older sister. Just please hang in there for us!" she whispered. Now that she had told her parents, the realization that something could still go wrong hit her like a sack of hammers.<p>

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><p>"No!"<br>"Aisling, honey...please. We've got to go to bed sometime, sweetheart!" Eugene was bone tired. It was ten o'clock, his three year old daughter was giving him fits, and he'd spent the entire day juggling a toddler and running the entire country. He wanted his wife. And her parents. There was only a week to go, but he was counting the _hours _until their return.  
>"I don't wanna. I wan' mommy!"<br>"I do too, but she's away right now. I promise she'll be back soon," he reassured her, bending to pick her up. "What if we read for awhile?"  
>"No!"<br>"Can you say anything else except for no, sweetie?" he asked.  
>"N-...yes!"<br>He laughed at her near slip-up. "Okay. Just checking. How about we read your favorite fairytale?"  
>She gave him a doubtful look. She wasn't dumb, she knew full well that if he read to her, she'd fall asleep. "I don' wanna go sleep."<br>"But you have to, baby. If you sleep, then tomorrow will come quickly, and we'll be one day closer to mommy coming home."  
>"Are you sure?"<br>"Yep," he kissed her cheek, and she giggled, squirming away in surprise.  
>"Tickles, daddy!"<br>"What, this?" he rubbed his fingers across the scruff he'd allowed to spread up his jawline and around his mouth. Who had time for shaving when you were running a kingdom and chasing after a three year old on your own?  
>"Yes! Tickles!"<br>"Don't you like it?" he asked, grinning.  
>She bumped her head up against his, brushing her cheek against the scruff before giving him a scrutinizing gaze. "It' okay."<br>He chuckled. "Okay. Thank you, baby. Now, let's see about that story, hm?"  
>She nodded, and let him carry her to the library, where they read for barely a half an hour before she was asleep in his arms.<br>He carried her to her bedroom and tucked her in before going to his own bedroom.  
>Eugene had no more than gotten comfortable in the bed, Pascal on the pillow next to him, before a quick, frantic knock sounded at the door.<br>Biting back a tired sigh, he padded across the room in his bare feet and opened the door. His teary-eyed daughter immediately burst through the door, clinging to his legs.  
>"What's the matter, little Rose?"<br>"Night-scare," she mumbled into his legs. He could feel how hard she was shaking.  
>"I'm sorry, sweetie. C'mere. What was your bad dream about?" he scooped her up and carried her to the huge bed, setting her down beside him before crossing his legs.<br>"Mommy ne-never came back," she hiccuped and rubbed her nose. "An' you were gone for_ever_ too."  
>"I'm sorry," he scooped her up and cradled her in his arms until her sobs and sniffles subsided. "Mommy will come back, and I'm right here."<br>She rubbed her nose on his sleeve. "Do you get nightscares, daddy?"  
>"Sometimes," he nodded. "But they never come true, sweetie."<br>"Okay." she picked at a loose thread on her nightgown before looking at him shyly. "Can I sleep wif you tonight?"  
>How could he say 'no, go back to your bed, you'll be okay' to that face? He couldn't. "Yes, sweetie." she grinned and bounced up to hug his neck a moment before diving under the blankets so quickly he barely even saw her move. Suppressing a chuckle, he flopped over backwards abruptly, making the bed bounce. Aisling giggled, scrambling to pop out from under the blanket so she could see her father.<br>"You silly."  
>"No, <em>you're <em>silly," he teased, tapping the end of her nose with his forefinger before letting her cuddle up against him.

* * *

><p>On their eighth day away from home, the Kings only had a few things to finish up discussing, leaving Rapunzel and her mother free to do anything for the day.<br>"Let's go explore the town square!" Rapunzel suggested eagerly. She wanted to bring home something for Aisling, and she was curious about France's town square, which wasn't too far from the castle.  
>Her mother agreed, and within two hours, were at the heart of the town square. Rapunzel and the Queen darted from shop to shop, chatting with each other and having a rare mother-daughter day. Rapunzel couldn't wait to share an experience like this with Aisling someday!<br>"Oh, let's stop in here," Rapunzel called, spying a promising shop. Her mother browsed idly, but she darted from display to display with her usual energy. She bought a pretty blue silk dress for Aisling, and then allowed herself to look at the baby items. They were just too cute to pass up, but she didn't know whether or not she was having a boy or a girl.  
>"What should I do?" she finally asked her mother.<br>"You could get something for each, and once it's born and you know what it is, then you can donate the other things to the orphanage. Or hang onto it," she winked, and Rapunzel blushed. Of course, she knew her mother meant that there may be another time that they adopt, seeing as this was some sort of wonderful fluke.  
>"Okay," she grinned, going back to choose a smart little suit for a baby boy and a frilly little dress for a baby girl, as well as a toy for either and then a very soft stuffed animal for Aisling - a cat, which seemed to be her favorite animal for the moment.<br>Finally, they left the store, and the Queen suggested a stop at the book store, where they bought books for their husbands. Laughing, Rapunzel realized that growing up, she'd never even imagined having such an experience with her mother: going to a different country and buying gifts for her _daughter, husband, and unborn child! _She could barely suppress a squeak of happiness at the thought.

In the afternoon, they ate sandwiches from a small pub - which her mother was horrified at going to, so Rapunzel went inside to order and came back out quickly, seeing as the men were much less cordial than the thugs from the Snuggly Duckling - and then resumed their day.  
>When afternoon drifted into evening, Rapunzel glanced towards her mother, her eyes wide. "We need to get back to the castle! It's nearly dark."<br>The Queen nearly dropped her packages. They'd both lost track of time, and now were very deep into the town square, which had proven to be much more massive than Corona's quaint town square.  
>"Oh, dear," the Queen glanced around sharply, "we should not have gone without a guide, perhaps."<br>"We'll find our way back!" Rapunzel shook her head and took her mother's hand. "I promise!"  
>"And how are you so sure?"<br>She swung around, mildly offended by her mother's uncertainty. "When I make a promise, I never, _ever _break that promise. Ever. And I know we'll make it back before dark!"  
>"Who knows what kind of ruffians roam the streets at night here? The pub-"<br>"It'll be _fine_, mother!" Rapunzel said, mildly exasperated. But at the thought, fear prickled in the back of her mind. And she had one more to worry about, to boot...Shaking her head, she steered her thoughts towards navigation and away from panicking. Grabbing her mother's hand, she surged forward with false certainty.  
>Three hours later, they had somehow managed to be back at the center of the town square. "See? We're almost there! Two hours more and we'll be back at the castle to put our feet up!"<br>"But do we have to turn anywhere?"  
>"No," Rapunzel shook her head. "It's a straight shot."<br>"Are you sure?" her mother shook _her _head. "I think perhaps we turn left."  
>"Well, let's see if we can spot the castle lights from here, then!" Rapunzel glanced around and spied a gutter and a barrel nearby, which had been turned upside down. Rushing over to it, she hopped up onto it, despite her mother's calls to be <em>careful, for goodness' sake! <em>When she balanced up on the barrel, she still couldn't see the castle quite yet, so she carefully crawled up onto the wooden gutter, on her hands and knees and shaking just a bit with worry that she'd fall. When she got to the even part and knew it wouldn't give with her weight, she carefully stood up and peered over the cottage roofs.  
>"Straight shot! I was right, mother!" she called, nearly forgetting to keep her balance. She almost tumbled from the gutter, but ducked onto all fours just in time. She crawled carefully down to the barrel, and jumped before it could tip over. "Tada!" she laughed, but she touched her stomach anyhow and ignored the look of disapproval that her mother flashed.<p>

Three _more _hours later and after a minor turnaround in which the Queen had nearly suffered a panic attack, they were back at the castle.

* * *

><p>The carriage rolled up to the castle entrance back in Corona, and Aisling was inside the carriage and hugging her mother before Rapunzel could even move.<br>Laughing, she cuddled her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Hello, my little Rose! Were you a good girl?"  
>"Yes, mommy, but I miss'ded you!"<br>Laughing, she kissed her hair. "I missed you too, baby girl! But..." she trailed off and gave her a sly smile. "I brought you something home."  
>Her eyes widened in excitement, and whirled around to scramble out of the carriage. Eugene, who Rapunzel hadn't even noticed coming over, caught her a split second before she leaped from the carriage, and set her down on the ground. Rapunzel leaned out of the carriage to watch the little girl scamper up the stone stairs, calling a 'be careful' when she stumbled.<br>Shaking her head and grinning, she turned her attention back to Eugene.  
>"Hey, you," he gave her a charming grin.<br>"Hey yourself," she teased, and he reached into the carriage to help her out. "Thank you, sweetie."  
>"Mhmm," he didn't let her go right away; instead, he pulled her into a kiss - which only lasted a second, because Aisling gave an impatient yell.<br>Laughing, Rapunzel pulled away and slipped from her husband's arms, mouthing "We'll catch up later," before leaning in to get her brown paper bags.

Aisling finally settled down to bed at around nine, clutching her new stuffed animal, and Rapunzel and Eugene retired to bed as well when she was put to bed.  
>Eugene promptly pulled her into a kiss, but Rapunzel pulled away, finally realizing the scruff which had only grown longer in the second week. She scrunched her nose. "Too busy to shave?"<br>"Yes," he laughed. "What, don't you like it?" he promptly nuzzled her cheek before brushing his lips quickly up against the spot just below her earlobe, and she laughed, recoiling away from him.  
>"You're not touching me 'til you get rid of that, honey. I'm sorry, but...wow. Scratchy."<br>"Aisling likes it," he commented teasingly. "Sort of."  
>"Does she?" Rapunzel laughed.<br>"So-so," he grinned, waving his hand back and forth. "She wavers between laughing at it and hating it. But I'll shave tomorrow. She uses it to pull on when she's having a tantrum."  
>Gasping, Rapunzel laughed. "Oh, dear. I'll be happy when she's out of the tantrum phase."<br>"You and me both, sweetie," he chuckled.  
>After they had changed for bed, Rapunzel fairly collapsed into bed with a tired groan. "I'm soo tired..."<br>Eugene grinned. "I bet. How did everything go? And how are you feeling?"  
>She settled a hand over the small bulge protruding from what used to be a flat stomach. "Everything went well. Queen Belle is expectant with their...oh...seventh? Seventh child, I think. So we were talking about kids and everything," she smiled. "And oh, I'm so excited!"<br>He laughed quietly. "I am, too."  
>"How did everything go for you?"<br>He gave her a look of mock horror. "Yoi. Busy. Between trying to run the country and chase after a very strong-willed three year old..." he flopped dramatically back onto a pillow and covered his face with his arms.  
>Giggling, Rapunzel reached to poke his side, which she knew to be extremely ticklish. "Oh, I'm sure you did well."<br>He chuckled, trying to push her hand away. "Hey. Quit! You wouldn't like it if I tickled-"  
>"Okay. Point made," Rapunzel grinned teasingly, letting him off the hook. For now.<br>"I thought you were tired, anyway."  
>"I am, but I wanted to catch up with my hubby."<br>He grinned teasingly. "And I can't even kiss you goodnight," he pushed his lips out in a part pout, part smolder, and Rapunzel giggled.  
>"Oh, you're awful. C'mere." she leaned over to kiss him, trying her best to avoid the scratchy mess he called facial hair, and then cuddled snug up against his side, letting him stroke her hair until they fell asleep.<p> 


	40. Chapter 40: Sorrow and Delight

Rapunzel peeled an eye open and touched a hand to her swollen stomach. It was May and she was six months along already! She had yet to feel the baby moving, but she was two-thirds of the way through her term, and that was amazing. Eugene must have already gone to work, and she was ravenous. _What time is it, anyway? _she thought as she sat up and rubbed a hand through her choppy hair. She didn't hear Aisling, so she must still be asleep. She threw on the same dress she'd worn yesterday and then padded down the hallway to Aisling's room.  
>"Hey, baby girl," she whispered. "Wake up!"<br>She knelt beside her bed with a little effort and tickled her chubby belly gently to wake her up. When she did, she immediately smiled.  
>"G'mornin', mommy!"<br>"Morning, sweetheart! Let's get dressed and get breakfast, maybe we'll go for a walk in the garden today."  
>That got her moving! Aisling shot out of bed waited impatiently for Rapunzel to find one of her play dresses. When she was dressed and her long brown hair braided, she bounded down the hallway, headed for the dining hall.<p>

"Your breakfast is cold."  
>The chef himself served Aisling and Rapunzel, and he wasn't amused. It was eight o'clock and they were both two hours later than normal - unacceptable!<br>"Oh, that's alright. Thank you," Rapunzel responded with a kiss on his cheek, and he snorted indignantly. While he was distracted by his disgust, she snagged another pancake to add to her pile. She was _starving_.  
>"You'll never lose that extra weight, Princess. Don't think I didn't notice that."<br>"I'm eating for two!" she exclaimed through her mouthful. Glancing around, she realized her parents weren't there. "Where are my parents?"  
>"You're forgetful as all get-out, and very unprincesslike. They left for their trip to Germany earlier this morning; won't be back for a month. Don't you remember?"<br>"Oh!" Rapunzel bit her lip. She'd forgotten since last night. "I do now. Thank you."  
>He nodded, making a hasty exit.<br>Rapunzel felt a pang of regret. She hadn't been awake to see her parents off. Of course, she was sure they understood, but...still.  
>Turning to her own daughter, Rapunzel laughed. "C'mere, you've got stickies all over your face, darling!"<br>Aisling grinned sheepishly as her mother wiped the thick, stringy maple syrup from her chin, cheeks, and - and even her nose! "Thank you, mommy."  
>"You're welcome, baby." She swung around when she heard the dining hall door open. "Eugene?"<br>"Mmhmm. You're finally up, I see," he gave her a halfhearted smile and plopped a kiss on her forehead before sitting down, snagging a piece of pancake from her plate. Making a face, he gulped. "That was cold."  
>"That's what you get for stealing food from your pregnant wife's plate!" she exclaimed indignantly. "What're you doing home already, anyway?"<br>"Ah," he shrugged. "Tell you later."  
>"Okay. Well, until then, we were going to go walk in the garden, but if you're home for the day, why don't we go on our favorite trail with Aisling?"<br>He smiled. "Sounds like the best plan in the world."

* * *

><p>The day sped by all too quickly, and Aisling was absolutely tuckered out and positively grumpy by the time she went to bed at seven-thirty.<br>"I can't believe she's turning five in a couple of months," Rapunzel murmured, the realization hitting her as she stroked her sleeping daughter's head.  
>"Mhmm. Can you believe we've been married for the same amount of time?" he asked, slipping quietly out of the bedroom and holding the door for her.<br>"Huh-uh," she shook her head and grinned, easing the door closed. "Knowing you has been the best seven years of my life, though, just for the record."  
>"Mutual," he pecked her cheek. "Now...what do we do now that it's not even eight o'clock yet?"<br>"Eat." Rapunzel giggled quietly.  
>"Hey, I'm always down for that," he winked and took her hand, leading her to the kitchen. Most of the maids were just finishing up work or already leaving for supper with their families, so the kitchen would likely be clear. Eugene paused at the doorway, poking an eye in the crack in the door, acting like this was some dangerous mission. Of course, he was doing this with the hope that he'd be rewarded with a smile or a laugh from his pretty wife. That's all he wanted today. She giggled, placing a hand over her rounded belly.<br>"You're terrible," she shook her head, nibbling her lips furiously to try to keep from giving him a grin.  
>"I know, but you love it."<br>"Do I?" she asked teasingly.  
>Shaking his head, he rolled his eyes and swung the door open. "Your kitchen awaits, m'lady."<br>"Why're you so silly this evening?" she asked, finally grinning. "Are you trying to distract me from your absence from work today?"  
>His goofy smile faded. She knew. "So you didn't forget."<br>"No, I didn't." she snagged a fresh green apple from a basket and reached to smear syrup over it - one of her odd new cravings.  
>He sighed, leaning his elbows on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. "Well...the old man passed away yesterday."<br>Rapunzel gasped, nearly dropping her apple. "Oh!"  
>"His sons want nothing to do with the business, but they don't want to sell it to anyone else - they're going to tear it down. I offered to help them with anything they needed help with, but they don't want my assistance." he sighed and stared off into the distance. "I'm going to miss that cooky old guy."<br>Rapunzel swallowed, setting her fruit on the counter and reaching to slip her arms around him - something that always ended up being awkward anymore, since they were separated by her fairly large stomach. "I'm so sorry, Eugene. That's terrible!"  
>"Eh...he was old, I guess. He just died in his sleep. At least it wasn't the plague or something else awful like that."<br>She nodded, watching his face. "You okay?"  
>"I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders up to his ears for a moment, looking like a very small child. "I just...I guess I kind of viewed him as a father, which is stupid. He just reminded me of my Pa." his voice cracked, and he shook his head.<br>"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He tore his gaze away from the wall, where he'd been staring blankly, and turned his attention to Rapunzel for a moment before slipping his arms tightly around her - one around her shoulders, one around her waist with his hand pressing into the small of her back - and then he bent and buried his face in her hair. Surprised, she slid her arms around him and rubbed his back comfortingly.  
>After a few minutes of complete silence, he pulled away, swallowing. His eyes were rimmed with red.<br>"Oh, honey..." she reached up to wipe his tear-stained cheeks and he backed up a couple of steps, giving a self-deprecating laugh.  
>"I shouldn't be this upset about it. He was just my employer."<br>"But he reminded you of your father, and you two were pretty close," she replied. "It's okay. It's okay to mourn."  
>"Not for me. I'm tougher than that," he gritted his jaw, as if he was trying to convince himself of that.<br>"No, you're not. I saw you crying the other day when Aisling fell on the cobblestones and skinned her knees," Rapunzel pointed out. "It's okay."  
>He clenched his jaw harder, but Rapunzel pulled him back into her arms.<br>"I wi-wish you weren't so persistent," he mumbled. "I'd be okay if you'd let me-"  
>"There's a difference between compartmentalization and healing," Rapunzel said, backing away. "But if you don't want me to comfort you, fine." She knew her sharp-spoken words probably stung him, but they'd slipped out.<br>"It's not..." he trailed off and sighed in apparent frustration. "I'm just confused right now."  
>"I'm sorry. It just slipped out...I know I shouldn't have-"<br>He shook his head, seizing the opportunity to tease her and distract both of them from the situation. "Well, at least you have an excuse to be having mood swings!"  
>She shook her head and put her hand across her stomach. "You're trying to distract me again."<br>"That's what I do when I'm upset, Blondie. It's how I deal with stuff like this."  
>"I know, and-" she broke off short when she felt something press against the inside of her belly up against the hand she'd spread across the outside of it. It was followed by a couple of quick little bumps, and she couldn't help but grin at Eugene with excitement. "-and...I just felt our baby move for the first time."<br>His eyebrows shot up, and his heart skipped a beat as he temporarily forgot about all the sadness and confusion. She'd just felt their baby move. It was okay. It was still alive. It was well. His mouth went dry when he tried to say something, but she snagged one of his calloused hands to press over the area where she'd felt it move. He just barely felt it move one last time, but it was enough for him to stare at Rapunzel with an incredulous expression. 


End file.
